The Loud House: On the Run
by Heronimbus64
Summary: Lincoln has always been part of a family with ten sisters, but when he discovers a lost older brother who has been missing for many years, he runs away from home and sets out on a journey to bring him back home where he belongs. With his sisters in tow and a gang of criminals known as the Stoneface Stealers tracking him down, Lincoln knows he's in for the wildest ride of his life.
1. Chapter 1

_Royal Woods, Michigan. 7:30 AM_

 **BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.**

Today was the day.

Lincoln Loud's first day of middle school.

He pushed down the button on his alarm clock and let out rapid breaths of excitement as he scrambled to put on his clothes and gather his supplies. He grabbed his walkie-talkie from his desk and held down the button as hard as he could. "Alright, Cadet Clyde," he said into the microphone, "you ready for this?"

"I sure as heck am," Clyde McBride replied from his own house. "I've got my folders, my pencils, my erasers, my notebooks, my lunchbox, my barf bag, my inhaler, my secret photo of Lo-"

"OK, we're good," Lincoln said before Clyde could go any further. "I'll see you at the bus stop, dude!" He slid the walkie-talkie into his pocket and looked up to see her baby sister Lily standing at the door.

"Linky!" she burst out with joy. She embraced Lincoln in a small hug, which he returned promptly. "Sissy!" Lily pointed downstairs. "Which one?" Lincoln asked, kind of puzzled by what she was saying. He ''did'' have nine other sisters, anyway. "All da sissy!" said Lily, pointing downstairs again.

"Come on down, Lincoln," called the eldest sister, Lori. "Mom and Dad have an announcement to make." Lincoln brought Lily downstairs to meet up with the rest of the family. The parents had prepared a mouthwatering breakfast with pancakes, waffles, bacon, and deviled/scrambled/sunny-side-up eggs. Usually, only the parents and the older kids ate in the dinimg room, but Lincoln noticed the youngsters all had stools at the table, so he guessed the announcement was REALLY important.

"Alright, kids," Lynn Loud, Sr. began as everyone ate their breakfast. "We spent so much time together as a family over the summer that your mother and I haven't gotten enough time to ourselves." He glanced over to his wife Rita, who continued, "So, you kids are going to be home alone for a week while we visit Hawaii."

"But, Mom! Dad!" Leni, the second oldest child, exclaimed. "You're already in Hawaii! See? There's the hula girl!" She pointed to a solar-powered dancing hula girl toy in the windowsill. The other kids facepalmed; Leni was never exactly a smart one.

"But... who's gonna watch us?" Lola asked. She was all dressed up in her best princess-y outfit, for the sole purpose of showing off at school. Her dirtier, more tomboyish twin Lana added, "Lemme guess: Lori?"

"YA THINK?" Lori blurted out, to which everyone groaned with displeasure. As the oldest sibling, Lori was put in charge every time the parents were out - and she was usually about as strict as a sergeant. Perhaps even more.

Lynn Sr. turned to Lori and declared, "This is your chance to prove that you can handle the pressures and responsibilities of being a parent for at least a week." "OK Dad, I know the rules," Lori responded. "No touchy-touchy your stuffy-stuffy."

"Lori, I'm serious. We spend hundreds of dollars you kids every month, and it takes time and dedication to make sure everyone is safe. So I don't want anything going wrong. No goof-ups, no explosions, no fires, no floods, no bats swarming the house at night..."

"I told you, the demonic spirits let them out last night," Lucy retorted. She was a goth girl, covered with black and white and quite solemn for the most part... and, of course, she owned pet bats.

Then Lynn Jr., the family's resident sports lover, butted in. "Dad, we'll be fine! I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" She seemed to be trying to reassure her father and the grumpier kids with her best smile, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Funny you should ask," said Lisa, the second-youngest yet smartest sister. "I made a pie chart that shows every possibility of anything that could possibly go wrong. You have an 86% chance of coming back to town and seeing a perfectly normal house." Lynn Sr. took the chart out of her hands and looked over it, obviously confused. "Happy travels!" Lisa finished. Leni suddenly cried out, "You made pie?" to which Lisa responded with a moan.

Luna, a self-proclaimed rock star and the third oldest sister, looked extremely excited, and this was shown through her speech. "I can't wait to start jammin' at night! I was born to be wild!"

The fourth oldest, Luan, looked like she was ready to crack a joke. And sure enough, she let it out. "Mind if I spread some peanut butter with that jam?" She laughed at the sound of her pun, with Luna slightly glaring at her as if to say, ''Seriously dude?''

"Well," Lynn Sr. sighed with a finality to his voice, "I guess we need to catch our plane. And Lynn Jr., Lincoln... you need to catch your bus." "Oh man!" Lincoln yelled. "I can't miss the bus on my first day of sixth grade!" Lynn Jr. called, "I'll race ya!" as they ran out the door.

The race eventually ended with a tie, and Clyde was waiting at the bus stop for them. He and Lincoln gave each other their secret handshake, and sat down on the bench with Lynn.

"So... sixth grade, huh?" Lynn glanced at Lincoln, looking a little proud of how far her brother has come. "Yup," Lincoln replied, looking confident. "This day is gonna be a blast... at least, I hope so."

"Good luck, bro. The teachers are gonna be a liiittle more strict than you might be used to."

"Yeah, I know that. It's just the sheer excitement of it all... I'm gonna start going to a new school. And all my friends from fifth grade are going there."

Clyde gave Lynn a positive, reassuring look. "We'll get through this. Don't worry." The bus was rolling in right about now, and all three of them stepped up the stairs and over to their seats.

Then, Clyde spotted a boy with somewhat frizzy brown hair and a lime-green T-shirt chatting with his friends. He nudged Lincoln and pointed to the boy. "It's Chandler!"

Chandler looked up and saw them, giving them a harsh smirk. "Hey look, it's Jack Frost!" His friends laughed with him, pointing at Lincoln and mocking him in more ways than he could count.

Lincoln sighed and asked, "Why is it always me? Can't you pick on anyone else on this bus?" "Nah man," Chandler answered. "You're honestly the most fun to make fun of."

"I heard he's depressed about his girlfriend leaving town," one of his friends said. "What's her name? Ronnie Anne or somethin'?"

"Hey, she's not my girlfriend!" Lincoln yelled.

"You sure about that?" Chandler jeered with a sarcastic grin. "You have video chats with her every night before you go to bed... at least, that's what the rumor says."

"That doesn't make it true!" Lynn tried to defend Lincoln; she knew Chandler from all the football games she'd participated in.

"This coming from the girl who let down her whole football team!"

Lincoln looked like he was ready to burst. "That wasn't her fault, Chandler!" "Oh, right..." Chandler glared. "It was yours! Your bad luck messed it all up! This is why Ronnie Anne left. She didn't want to end up with the same bad luck you gave Lynn."

"SHUT UP!" Lincoln was turning red with rage, and it seemed that at any moment he could grab Chandler and throw him to the other side of the bus.

"I know what happened, Snow White."

"You wish, you little leprechaun."

A hush fell over the entire bus as everyone stared at the two boys. Clyde's mouth was gaping so wide he was almost drooling. Lynn sat there in total shock, as if she had been struck by lightning.

A giggle slipped out.

Then a chuckle.

And, like all laughter, it was contagious.

Chandler looked around at all the kids laughing at the roast Lincoln had just handed to him. Lincoln himself smirked - he had never felt more confident around him before now.

"You... you..." Chandler was struggling for words, but all of his reputation had been sucked out of him. "You're gonna pay for that, Loud!"

The bus finally arrived at Royal Woods Middle School and pulled over to the drop-off station. All the kids got off, and Lincoln, Lynn, and Clyde looked out towards the three-story school building.

Lincoln was kind of revolted by how old the building looked - most of the grass had been ripped out, and there was already litter all over the ground. The brick walls seemed to be falling apart a tiny bit, and looked like they hadn't been repainted in years. But it was only his first day here - he had to give it a chance.

"Welcome to middle school, nerds," Lynn congratulated the boys.

Lincoln and Clyde arrived at their homeroom and sat down next to each other. Chandler came into the room with them, followed by a girl with curly brown hair and a purple blouse.

"...is that Cristina?" Lincoln asked Clyde. "Huh, sure is," he responded as she sat down in front of Chandler. Lincoln started to get flashbacks of his weird obsession with Cristina back in fifth grade. These days, it made him cringe just thinking about it - and now that a new school year had started, he figured it was time for a fresh start.

But that could wait until after class. The bell had rang, and his homeroom teacher was now in the room. The teacher was male - a departure from the female teachers he was used to in elementary school. He was well-built, with dark brown hair and a clean-shaven face. Lincoln guessed he was fairly young - a bit younger than Ms. Johnson at least.

"Good morning, class," the teacher began. "Welcome to your first year of middle school. My name is Mr. Spruce, and I will be your homeroom teacher."

The whole class greeted him in return. They all looked excited and nervous at the same time, especially Lincoln.

Mr. Spruce called roll, and class began. "Homeroom period is only ten minutes long, so I only have one assignment for you today. This assignment will test your skills in analyzing art and literature, which will be important to classes you will take from now til your senior year. Now..." He turned on his projector, and the classic painting, American Gothic, was shown on screen. "Can anyone tell me what this painting represents?"

Lincoln raised his hand, and he was called on. "I think it's telling us that they lost something important to them, and they're not so happy about it."

"Hmm, not quite..." Mr. Spruce responded. "You're right about the 'loss' part, though. Good try. Anyone else?"

Chandler was the next to raise his hand. "The painting represents the losses American citizens faced during the Great Depression. Poverty was a major issue back then, and in some cases forced farmers out of business."

The class was amazed by this description - even Lincoln. "...I'm a fan of art," Chandler explained.

"That was... pretty good!" Mr. Spruce praised Chandler's analysis. The bell rang to head to the next class, and everyone got out of their seats and walked out the door. "Have a good first day, class," the teacher called out.

Lincoln and Clyde had gotten their lockers at orientation, so they walked over to them and organized their textbooks. Lincoln started his trip to the next class, but accidentally bumped into Chandler.

"Hey, watch it!" he yelled. Lincoln was ticked off by his sudden harshness. "Well, sorry!" he said, and tried to walk away. But Chandler grabbed him by the collar and pushed into a nearby locker. He growled, still holding on to his collar. "The next time you get in my way... you're gonna be sorry."

"Chandler!" Cristina was behind him, giving him a dirty look. "Leave him alone. He had no intentions of hurting you."

"Just let me handle the situation, sis!" Chandler replied brashly.

"Now wait a minite," said Lincoln. "You're siblings?"

"Yeah, twins," Cristina answered. "He's pretty much my polar opposite. Gender and all."

Chandler let go of Lincoln and confronted his twin sister in a sort of staredown. "Listen up, Tina. I don't know why you chose to butt in like this, but I need you to let me do my own thing."

"You're not my boss, Chandler."

"Well, I'm six minutes older than you, so I kind of am."

"You're gonna be late, y'know..."

Chandler quickly glanced at the clock. "Ugh! This is your fault, Lincoln!" He dashed through the hall and took a turn, continuing his rush until he eventually went out of sight.

"Thanks, Cristina," Lincoln sighed with relief. "I almost got a black eye."

"Hey, any time, Lincoln," said Cristina. "Chandler can be a real jerk sometimes. I always have to be the angel to his devil... ugh."

They walked down the hall together, as Lincoln glanced at every corner of the building. "...you OK?" Cristina finally asked.

Lincoln turned his head back to face her. "Oh, I just... I just wanna say I'm sorry if I seemed creepy with my crush on you back in fifth grade."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Cristina gave him a reassuring smile. "I've always been the popular girl. Boys have crushes on me every year."

Lincoln smiled back and gave her a handshake, formally acknowledging her as a friend.

"So... hey!" Cristina quickly grabbed his attention just as he was turning around. "Wanna come to my party tonight? Chandler and I are twelve today."

"Oh sure, I'll come. Happy birthday!"

"Thanks! I've invited Clyde too. He seems... nice." She blushed a bit as she said the word. "I would have invited Ronnie Anne too, but... you know..."

Lincoln sighed, and his casual expression started to falter. "Yeah..." He didn't want to blurt it out, but he really missed her. She had moved in with her extended family miles away from Royal Woods, and even though he ''did'' chat with her online, he knew that middle school wouldn't be as fun without her.

Cristina put her arm on Lincoln's shoulder. "Hey, if you wanna talk about it, I'm here for you." Lincoln smiled again, but it seemed more weak this time. "Thanks, Cristina," he said. "I'll see you at the party."

"You too, bud!" Cristina waved goodbye and jogged to class.

Clyde finally caught up with Lincoln. "Dude, class starts in two minutes," he reminded him.

"Yeah, I know," Lincoln responded. "I'm just excited about that party Cristina invited me to. Maybe I'll get a fresh start after all..." Lincoln smiled, but didn't notice he was starting to walk backwards... into a trophy case.

"Lincoln... watch out!"

He bumped into the trophy case, and the trophy inside fell over and shattered. "Oh man oh man oh man..." Lincoln shuddered, looking down at the name on the trophy. "That was the only gold trophy the school's football team ever won... and Lynn got the final touchdown!"

A school security officer noticed the broken trophy. "YOU! Principal's office, now!"

Later that day, Lori picked up Lincoln from detention and drove all the kids home. "I can't believe you broke that trophy and made me wait an hour to pick you up," Lori ranted.

"Lori, it was an accident!" Lincoln tried to defend himself, worried what she might do to him. Lori was known to be ruthless when she got angry.

But she just kept on ranting. "For twelve years, I have tried to be the best sister I could be. Am I good at my job? No. Do I know anything about kids? No! Should I read a book on parenting? Probably!"

Lincoln looked down at his feet in shame. Much to his disbelief, Lynn didn't seem too angry.

"Look Lincoln, I'm not mad," she said. "I'm disappointed, but I ain't mad."

"I'm really sorry, Lynn," Lincoln stated openly.

Lori was finally starting to calm down. "Lincoln, I'm glad you apologized, but you really need to be more careful with your surroundings." She kept her eyes on the road with a solemn expression.

Back at the house, Lincoln drew his own comics, and was enjoying himself until he broke his pencil. The only room where he could find a lot of extra pencils was Lori and Leni's. He didn't want Lori to catch him in there without her permission, though - she was really defensive about that.

He looked through the open door, and saw no one in there. He tip-toed into the room and opened the side table drawer between the girls' beds and found a pencil... but he also noticed a small photograph.

The photo showed a young Lori posing with an older boy on a cold winter day. They were bundled up in their coats, hats, and mittens, with their arms around each other's shoulders. Lori was holding up the two-finger "peace" sign, and the boy was giving the camera operator a big thumbs up.

''Who is this guy?'' Lincoln wondered. ''And how come I've never seen him? Was he a friend of Lori's who moved away? Perhaps a cousin? Wait... maybe he's our lost br-''

"Hey, Lincoln!"

Lincoln yelped and quickly turned around. Fortunately, it wasn't Lori standing behind him, but Leni.

"Hey... is that Dad?" Leni noticed the photo in Lincoln's hands.

"No, it's not," Lincoln answered her. "Lori wouldn't have been born yet if he was that young. I am wondering who it is, though."

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming towards the room. In s flash, Lincoln knew it was Lori. He grabbed the photo from Leni and scrambled to put it back in the drawer, but Lori caught him with it and rapidly snatched it out of his hands.

"Lincoln! You shouldn't be poking around in things you don't understand," she lectured as she closed the drawer.

"But Lori," Leni whined, "it was just a photo of you and Dad!"

Lincoln facepalmed and left the room with Leni.

Lori pulled the photo back out of the drawer and gazed at it, looking kind of sad as she looked at the boy.

"Oh, Linus... if only you were still here with us..."


	2. Chapter 2

_Chandler & Cristina's House, 7:30 PM_

"Lincoln! Clyde! You made it!" Cristina cheered as the two boys stepped through the front door. The house was jam-packed with visitors of all different ethnicities dancing, hanging out, and munching on whatever sort of snacks they had at the party. Lincoln could see all the fun the guests were having in the huge living room - it was all lit up with the disco ball twirling on the ceiling. All the vibrant colors made Lincoln feel a little dizzy, but it ''was'' a party.

Chandler wasn't so happy to see the two boys, unlike his sister. "Did you HAVE to invite these freaks, Tina?"

"They're my friends! They're nice!"

"I'm tellin' ya, Jack Frost here is trying to sabotage my reputation!"

"Hey Chandler..." Cristina saw two girls chatting with each other in the kitchen. "Those are some REALLY cute chicks over there... you don't want them to get away, do you?"

Chandler sighed and walked away to talk to the girls, leaving Lincoln and Clyde safe from his frustration for now.

The boys got some snacks and met up with Cristina. They wanted to sit down on the couch, but they noticed a few other kids horseplaying and decided not to get in their way.

"So, uh..." Lincoln began as he dipped a tortilla chip in his guacamole. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Linc!" Cristina replied with a cheerful smile. "But... try not to get so tense around Chandler. He has... issues."

Lincoln thought about this for a moment, and let out a deep breath. "I'll try to act more mature around him, but that's it."

"Just... try to get to know him better."

"Sure. It might take a while, though." Lincoln gave Clyde the rest of his chips so he could finish his nacho cheese, and got up to find Chandler. But he stopped in his tracks in the middle of the room.

"Gee... if only Ronnie Anne was here..." he said out loud, but not too loud. Then, the music seemed to overshadow his thoughts as he went into a sort of daydream state.

 _"Take it in ya heart now, lover..."_

 _Lincoln looked around. The room was glowing with a soft purple light. He couldn't hear what anyone else was saying or doing. Is this what happened in a daydream_

 _Someone came up from behind him. "Hey, lame-o."_

 _Lincoln turned around and saw her._

 _Ronnie Anne Santiago._

 _Her usual ponytail was absent. In its place was a river of long, wavy hair. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in the midst of the soft purple glow that spread throughout the room._

 _"H-hey, Ronnie Anne!" said Lincoln. His heart was racing just from the sight of her. "...you look great tonight."_

 _"Thanks... same goes for you." Ronnie Anne smiled. She was almost blushing at this moment._

 _"So... what brings you here?" Lincoln asked her._

 _"I don't remember... but since you're here, I guess I'll stay."_

 _The music got louder. It seemed to block out all other noise except the couple's voices. In fact, they even sounded slightly louder than the music itself._

 _Lincoln finally got the guts to ask Ronnie Anne. "...wanna dance?"_

 _Ronnie Anne grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to her. "Why dance when we can JAM?"_

 _They both laughed and started "jamming" with each other. Their moves seemed to pull the crowd's attention to them, and they cheered them on until Lincoln finally dropped Ronnie Anne into his arms. He could almost smell the raspberry perfume in her hair._

 _"Well... so much for not being too mushy."_

 _"I'll get over it," Ronnie Anne flirted. "I could do this all night."_

 _Lincoln pulled her towards him gently for a kiss. He ran his fingers through her hair and held onto her waist, then slowly closed his eyes-_

"Loud? LOUD?"

Chandler was snapping his fingers in front of Lincoln's face, and it was back to reality for him.

"Are you... out of your mind or somethin'?"

"Uh, no." Lincoln lied to try and escape from whatever Chandler was going to do. Everyone else was doing their own thing - the same old dancing, chatting, and munching from earlier.

Chandler gave him a mocking look. "You were dreaming about your little girlfriend, weren't you?"

"No! Shut up!"

"Face it, Snow White. Your bold princess is never coming back!" Chandler tried to rub it in, and his friends snickered at the joke he came up with.

"...that joke was half-reared and you know it." Lincoln stayed as calm as he could... at least until he heard the next rumor.

"I heard somethin' about the Louds," one of Chandler's friends started to say. "I think they have a missing brother."

Lincoln looked red with anger and white with shock at the same time. Pink? Who knew?

He kept himself together and said, "If I had a brother, I would have known about it."

"Are you sure?" Chandler asked. "Then how come your oldest sister always looks down on you? Don't you think she had a better brother once?"

"Why are you saying this?"

"Because you don't mean a thing to her. You should know that by now with all the bad things you've done... including the thing you did today."

Cristina was watching the confrontation from a distance, but now she was coming closer. "What do you mean, 'all the bad things you've done'?"

Chandler smirked. "Why, Snow White here broke a trophy! I've heard some nasty things about him too!"

"What? How do you know that?" Lincoln yelled.

"Listen, dude... gossip spreads real fast around here. You can't get away with this stuff forever. The cool kids ALWAYS find out. And your sister Leni is quite the talker, if you ask me."

Lincoln gasped at the sound of the sentence; he was nervous about what he would say.

And sure enough, Chandler spilled the beans.

"You embarrassed your sisters on the internet; caused bad luck for Lynn and her football team; tried to convince them to go green, then started playing video games behind their backs; and so much more!"

Lincoln stared at Chandler with shock and a little bit of fear. He looked around at the partygoers, who were all mocking him as the flashbacks flooded into his mind. He thought he could see his sisters laughing from every direction, and he was getting the sense of being terrorized.

Eventually, there was only one thing he could do.

He punched Chandler right in the eye.

Chandler retaliated with fury, and eventually slammed him into the wall with his fists clenched around his collar. "You... th-this is exactly what I'm talking about, Loud! You think you're hot stuff! Well, lemme break it down for ya: no one likes you! You think you're so cool? You're NOTHING!"

Lincoln gave Chandler the dirtiest look he could possibly come up with and started running home.

"Lincoln, wait!" Cristina cried out. But he was already out of her sight.

Lincoln opened the front door to his house and walked in. Luna noticed all the bruises that were covering his skin. "Whoa dude, what happened to you?"

"I... I tripped and fell."

"You don't get that many bruises from tripping," Lucy said matter-of-factly as she walked by. "Trust me, I would know."

All of the other sisters were staring at Lincoln and his bruises, wondering what could have possibly happened.

"Well anyway... pizza's here." Lori came in with five boxes of pizza. The kids grabbed their plates and gathered as many slices as they could, and Lincoln decided now was the time to ask the question he'd been wanting to ask when he came home from the party.

"So guys... do you think we might have a lost brother?"

"...what?" Leni was confused, this time for a good reason.

Luna didn't seem any less baffled. "Yeah bro, what are you even talking about?"

"At that party, I heard a rumor. Chandler told me about a possible missing brother."

Lisa tried to reason with him. "Lincoln, there is a 17% chance of this 'missing brother' being real. So I wouldn't get my hopes up."

Lincoln only grew more determined to find the truth. "If we don't have a brother... then who was that boy in Lori's picture?"

This was when Lori started to lash out a bit. "That picture is none of your business, twerp! He was a friend of mine, and that's final!"

"Then why are you so defensive about it?"

"Because I'm the oldest."

"...what does that have to do with anything?"

"Listen up, Lincoln, and listen well. We don't have a missing brother. And if we did, you'd be useless compared to him."

The other sisters gasped at Lori's harsh statement.

At this rate, Lincoln had had enough. "I'm sick and tired of you always looking down on me, Lori! You think I'm some sort of troll or something? Because I'm not!"

"How could there possibly be a missing brother that ''I'' don't even know about? And why would you care? You spend all your time reading comic books in your underwear!"

"Not like you don't talk to Bobby 24/7! Plus, if we DON'T have another brother, then why are you comparing me to him?"

"Because he would actually mind his own business. Remember that time you recorded videos of us in embarrassing situations and posted them online? That's a good example right there!"

"Lori, I didn't mean to-"

"Oh! And what about that other time, when you hurt Ronnie Anne's feelings and almost ruined my relationship with Bobby?"

"Lori... please..."

"But breaking Lynn's trophy on your first day of middle school? That's probably the dumbest thing you've ever done! I'm sure our so-called "lost brother" wouldn't have done anything THAT stupid."

"SHUT UP, LORI!"

That was the final straw for her. "You're getting this garbage from that stupid comic, aren't you?" She stomped upstairs with Lincoln and the other sisters in tow, and pushed all of his things around in his room.

Luna was determined to stop her. "Don't you do it!" But Lori pushed her away and said, "I'm in charge. I make the rules around here." She finally found Lincoln's most valuable comic - Ace Savvy number 200, worth $300 as of this day - and held it in the air to prevent the others from snatching it away.

"Say goodbye to your pathetic comic, twerp."

And she ripped it in half.

Suddenly, all the tension that had been building up in Lincoln's mind - from Ronnie Anne's departure, from Chandler's bullying, and from Lori's pure anger - simply snapped like a rubber band.

"...I'm gonna find him," he started to yell. "Oh, I am gonna find my brother! And when I do, I'll spend the rest of my childhood with him and away from YOU!" He scowled at Lori, who looked down at the ripped comic and let the pages fall out of her hands.

Lincoln grabbed all of his belongings and swiftly dashed out the front door. His sisters tried to stop him, but he pushed them out of the way and ran as far away as he could from the Loud house.

Lori looked on, and her once furious expression morphed into one of shame and self-doubt.

"Eldest sister," Lisa scolded. "Is it safe to say that you... screwed up?"


	3. Chapter 3

Lincoln just kept running. He'd had enough. He was going to find that lost brother, even if he had to do it himself.

 _Then again,_ he thought, _maybe I could use some backup._

He went over to Clyde's house and climbed up to his window. He saw Clyde cuddling a small plush of Lori in his arms - obviously custom-made. He DID have a weird obsession with her, after all.

Lincoln tapped on the glass, and Clyde swiftly woke up with a snort. "L-Lincoln? Why are you all the way out here this late at night?"

"You know that rumor Chandler mentioned at the party?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I'm gonna take a trip and find out if I really do have a missing brother. And I need you to come with me and keep me safe... in case anything happens."

"Um... okay..." Clyde picked up as many supplies as he could and brought them out the window with him. He ran down the street with Lincoln, and they passed Chandler and Cristina's house into the woods nearby.

Cristina was playing with a yo-yo in the front yard and saw them running. "What could they possibly be doing...?" she asked herself as she chased them into the woods.

"Lincoln..." Clyde began as he gasped for breath. "I don't even know where we are anymore... how long have we been running?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Lincoln replied, obviously more focused on the path ahead.

Cristina caught up with the boys, and was nearly out of breath by now. "What are you boys... doing?"

Lincoln had no choice but to answer. "We're looking for my missing brother."

"All the way out here? Are you nuts?"

"It's our only option for now."

"Alright... I'll help you out."

The three of them continued to look around for any possible hints as to where the brother could be, but they didn't get very far before they heard the honking of a car horn.

"W-what was that?" Clyde yelped with fear. Lincoln shushed him, prompting them to listen more closely.

They heard the car coming closer, with music and a few voices getting more clear every second.

The car came to a stop a few yards away from them, and they hid behind a bush. Then they heard the voices.

"Is this door seriously jammed AGAIN?"

"Yo Shelly... can you help a man out here?"

"Ugh... fine, Jay."

"I really need to fix that thing..."

Four adults stepped out of the car and started searching the woods for anyone who could stand in their way.

The leader was pale with a decent frame. He sported a faux mohawk and a bristly short beard, and wore a black flak jacket with a plaid red shirt underneath. Further down were a pair of khakis and brown army boots.

Then there was a large man, possibly African-American. He had a sort of Fat Albert look to him, but looked much more aggressive. His goatee covered a large portion of his lower face, and his light grey coat and somewhat saggy pants made him seem like a city renegade.

The woman was about as tall as the man with the mohawk, with a slender figure and a light blue tank top and skinny jeans to go along with it. Her hair was jet black, and her skin was fair - somewhere in the middle of white and black.

A shorter man stood alongside them. His curly hair was a contrast to his allies' straighter, more organized hair. He wore a yellow baseball cap to conceal it for whatever reason, and most of his clothes were purple to complement the cap.

A lanky man soon leaped out of the car on all fours and joined the others. He had sickly green skin, pale yellow teeth, and a goofy appearance, something like the animals you'd see in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Regardless, he still seemed like he could be a threat.

As Lincoln, Clyde, and Cristina remained in their hiding spot, the gang started another conversation.

"So, Elijah..." The large man spoke to the one with the mohawk. "What are we doin' tonight?"

"Eh, I dunno, Jay," Elijah responded. "I think you guys should make a decision."

"I say we rob Flip's," the woman declared. "Who knows how much money he could have there?"

"Sounds like a good heist to me, Shelly," the shorter man said. In his case, anything could go well.

"Of course it does, Norman. It's FLIP'S."

The "wild man" was sniffing around as the discussion went on, and suddenly he saw the bush and started barking like a strange dog.

"Hey, Elijah," said Norman. "I think someone's behind that bush!"

"Well, why don't we go check it out?"

The kids saw the criminals heading towards the bush, and Lincoln started sweating rapidly. "Guys... run!"

He and the other kids dashed away as the gang started chasing them. "Let's split up!" Clyde yelled. "If they catch one of us, the other two can escape!"

And so they did, with Lincoln rushing to another bush while the gang wasn't looking.

"Alright, Gator," Elijah told the wild man. "Keep sniffin'!"

Gator sniffed all around the area, and Norman pulled a flashlight out of his pocket.

"We know you kids are out there!" Elijah called out. "It's only a matter of time before we find you!"

Lincoln knew he couldn't make a peep; otherwise, those criminals would capture him. But there was something about that bush that made his nose itch more as each second passed.

He tried to hold it in. He plugged his nose and did whatever he could to hold back. But-

 **Achoo.**

It all failed.

Jay charged over to the bush and grabbed Lincoln, throwing him into the middle of a circle formed by the gang members.

"So... where'd you come from, huh?" Elijah questioned Lincoln, hoping to get some answers as to why he was here.

"What do you want from me?"

"You were spying on us, kid. We gotta do something about it before you run off and tell the authorities."

"I don't even KNOW you!"

"That's the point, man... but I guess it wouldn't hurt to introduce ourselves. We're the Stoneface Stealers. I'm Elijah, and I'm the leader of this crew."

Jay crossed his arms. "Call me Jay. I'm Elijah's second in command and a close friend of his too."

Shelly stepped forward with her hands on her hips. "I'm Shelly, Jay's sister and Eli's girlfriend." She gave Elijah a quick smooch on the cheek, and he smiled as he put his arm around her waist.

Norman compared his height to Lincoln's and realized he was shorter than him. "Dang it," he muttered. He cleared his throat and got serious again. "Anyway, I'm Norman. I'm the gang's resident science nerd. I invent things."

Elijah left Shelly's side comfortably and crouched down in front of Lincoln. "Now listen here, kiddo... I need to ask you something. Gator here, he's all sad and lonely. He collects animals and goofs off with 'em." As Elijah made this statement, Gator grabbed a squirrel and stuffed it into a large garbage bag with a few other animals.

"So," Elijah went on, "we're gonna take you with us and you can be his best friend. Keep him company, if that makes sense."

"I'm not going anywhere with you freaks!" Lincoln wanted absolutely nothing to do with these criminals. All he wanted was to find his missing brother.

"Well then... I guess we'll have to hold you hostage." Elijah was about to grab Lincoln and throw him into the trunk, but Cristina came up behind him with a large log and whacked him in the back of the head.

"I like muffins..." Elijah murmured in a daze before falling forward onto the ground.

Lincoln quickly joined Clyde and Cristina and escaped through the darker side of the woods.

"Ah man..." Shelly was irritated that Cristina had knocked out Elijah. "We gotta take him back to the warehouse and make sure he's alright."

"I'll drive!" Norman announced as he snatched the car keys out of Jay's hands.

"Can't reach the pedals," Jay reasoned.

"You'll drive!" Norman handed the keys back to him, and Shelly carried Elijah into the car with her. They all drove away, with Gator smiling at all the animals he found.

Lincoln watched the car leave from behind a tree. "What are those guys up to...?" Clyde asked him.

"I don't know," he answered. "And at this rate, I don't even WANT to know."

The kids ran to the nearby motel, which glowed in contrast to the midnight environment of the forest.

The Loud sisters were devastated by the fact that Lincoln had just run away. Lily was bawling, and everyone else was arguing in a tense environment.

Lana was the first to yell at Lori. "If I didn't wanna punch you before... I do now."

"That was uncalled for, Lori!" Lola exclaimed. " _I_ don't even do things like that!"

"Actually," said Leni, "you kinda do..."

"Oh, whatever!"

Lynn threw as many of her sports balls as she could at Lori, hoping to convince her to apologize.

Lucy just sat there on the couch, silently.

Lori went upstairs into her room, locking and blocking the door so her sisters couldn't break in. She opened her drawer and looked down at her photo with the boy from her younger days. _He made me happy,_ she thought. _Shouldn't I be doing the same for my siblings?_

She finally moved her things away from the door and opened it. All of the other sisters were glaring at her - except Luna. She was probably drowning out the noise with her music.

Lori sighed and declared, "We're gonna get Lincoln back."

But her sisters continued to glare. Lisa in particular was furious. "No, YOU'RE gonna get Lincoln back."

As the oldest out of all of them, Lori knew she had to reason with them. "Well... he went out looking for a missing brother, right? If he was real... wouldn't you guys want to meet him?"

"IS he real?" Lynn questioned. "You sounded really defensive about that photo."

"That's not the point. The point is, I know we need Lincoln in this house more than anyone."

"Except our parents," said Leni. "Don't forget our parents."

"Again, not the point," Lori responded, although Leni's statement did seem rather thoughtful, which was something she never expected out of her. They could surely use their parents' help right about now. But she couldn't tell them - who knows what they would do to her?

"We all care about Lincoln in a way, and... if you guys could help me, that would be nice."

"What's that?" Luan asked with a sarcastic smile on her face.

"I'm just saying, I could really use your help..."

"Say what, now? You're sounding kinda full of yourself, y'know."

 **"I need your help."**

"Ooohh! Well, why didn't you just say so?"

Lori facepalmed, then gave all the sisters a serious look - but it was more sincere this time. "Listen, guys... I can find Lincoln, but I can't find him alone. I'm gonna need backup... people who are good with different things."

The girls' dirty looks started to loosen up, and they seemed to be listening more closely.

"You guys have different personality traits that could help," Lori continued. "Lana, you're a great mechanic and you're good with animals. Lynn, Leni, your positivity may be just what we need. And Lisa, you're just... really smart."

The other sisters gave each other confident looks. They knew what Lori was trying to say.

"Your help won't just benefit me... it'll benefit this family as a whole."

They all smiled at Lori. "Alright," Lynn announced. "We're in."

"Wait," said Lola. "What about Luna?"

Sure enough, she was in the garage with her headphones on, listening to heavy metal at a high enough volume to block out outside noise while also not hurting her ears. Lynn came over and waved her hands in front of Luna's face, prompting her to turn off the music.

"Come on, Luna," Luan cried out. "We need to ''band'' together!" She chuckled at her pun.

Lori knew Luna was the only remaining sister she needed to convince. "Luna... we're gonna find Lincoln."

"You... you really mean it?" she asked.

"Yeah..."

Luna grinned and put her arm around Lori's shoulder, saying, "Anything to keep the family together."

The next morning, the sisters met up with some of their friends in their garage to ask them if they'd seen Lincoln anywhere.

"I'm sorry," Carol Pingrey answered Lori, "but I haven't seen him since the day before school started back up."

"No word from the Morticians Club," Haiku told Lucy and Lynn.

"Not from the Royal Woods Roosters either," said Margo, who was standing next to her.

"I hate to break it to ya, girl," Sam answered Luna with a sigh. "But... I have no clue whete your brother went."

"Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh..." Leni's boyfriend, Chaz, sat in a chair with a puzzled expression.

"Awww, Chaz, you're so adorable!" Leni hugged him tight with a cheerful smile.

"Last place I saw him was in detention," said Rusty Spokes, a friend of Lincoln's, as he entered the garage with Lisa.

"May I ask how YOU got into detention?"

"Uuhhh... spray painting my locker."

Rusty's brother Rocky followed him in. He approached Lucy, knelt down, and took her hand into his with a solemn expression. "I deeply apologize for your loss, my dark princess..." He kissed her hand gently.

"Rocky... this is serious."

Rocky's voice shifted to a more childlike explanation. "I know. I was, uh, trying to be serious." He giggled nervously.

Lana brought in her best friend, Skippy. He was all geared up with mechanic tools in case something needed to be fixed, and they seemed to have been joking all the way to the house.

Darcy Homandollar skipped into the garage as her shoes flashed, and she approached Lisa with glee. "Hi, Lisa! Have you found your brother yet?"

"No, we're just getting started. I'd like to thank you for your assistance, however."

"Aww man..."

Luan was dressed in a mime outfit. When Lori gave her a weird look, she just smirked and said, "Trust me. The girl _I_ invited will recognize me right away."

Darcy gazed at Luan's outfit with wide eyes and called out, "Maggie! Maggie! It's that mime from your birthday party!"

Maggie, an obvious emo girl, sulked into the garage. "I don't have time for this, Darcy... wait a minute!" She did recognize Luan after all. "Huh... she really IS that mime..."

"Girl, you need to MIME your manners!" Luan laughed once more, and Maggie groaned at her pun.

"Alright, I'll ask one more time," Lori announced. "Have any of you seen our brother Lincoln?"

Carol, Chaz, Sam, Maggie, Margo, Rusty, Rocky, Haiku, Skippy, and Darcy all shook their heads.

"Hmm... there's gotta be SOMEONE who can be useful."

Lynn thought for a moment, then gave her a determined grin and said, "I've got an idea."

Within ten minutes, they were spying on Chandler, who was practicing his basketball skills in his front yard. As he made a slam dunk and started cheering and bragging, Lucy slowly approached him.

"Aw yeah! I'm cool, cool! Very cool!"

"Cool."

Chandler yelped as everyone else charged towards him swiftly.

"Alright, listen up, twerp." Lori grabbed him by the collar. "We've heard you've been harsh towards our brother."

"Hey, isn't that YOUR job?" Chandler sneered.

Maggie glanced at Lynn. "You can punch him now."

Lynn rolled up her sleeves and put out her fist, getting ready to knock Chandler out.

"Wait! Wait!" he yelled. "Lincoln can be a real pain, at least from my point of view... but why are you interrogating ME, of all people?"

"Because you were the last person to talk to him before he ran off," Lisa answered. "Other than us, of course."

Haiku was first to ask questions. "What did you do to Lincoln? Like, exact details?"

"I didn't even do that much. I said one thing about his girlfriend, and he went all psycho on me and punched me. I punched him back in defense."

"I mean," Luna reasoned, "boys normally get defensive about things like that, but OK..."

"Girlfriend?" Lori asked. "You mean Ronnie Anne Santiago?"

"Uh, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"I think Lincoln running off might have had something to do with her moving away."

"Oh gee, you really think that, don't you?" Lana remarked sarcastically.

Luna knew she had to ease the tension before it grew, so she asked the next question. "So tell us... have you seen a girl named Cristina around town?"

"Uhh, of course!" Chandler was sweating nervously. "I mean, it's not like she ran off with Lincoln or anything! She's my sister. I should know."

"Oh really?" Lori challenged him. "When's the last time you saw her?"

"Uh... 9 PM? She probably went to a slumber party or something."

"Then why do you think she hasn't come back?"

"Wait a minute... are you saying she DID run off with Lincoln?"

"I dunno, Chandler. She's YOUR sister. You tell us."

Lori could almost see the fire in his eyes as he growled, swearing revenge on Lincoln.

Lola dragged Lindsey Sweetwater outside by the wrist. "Oh... I see your brother is getting all angry."

"Why are you bringing me here, Lola?!" Lindsey yelled.

"Because we need to know if the disappearance of Cristina is connected to our brother running off."

"For the last time, I don't know where she is!"

Chandler gestured towards Lindsey. "THIS girl knows what she's talking about!"

"You're coming with us, Chandler," Lucy declared. "YOU'RE part of the reason Lincoln ran off, so YOU'RE coming with us."

Chandler let out a final breath of surrender. "OK, fine! What are you gonna do? Throw me in the trunk?"

"No, but you're still our prisoner," Lynn scolded.

This statement left Chandler confused. "...what?"

A few moments later, Lana and Skippy had gotten Vanzilla set up and ready to go. It had been breaking down from all the summer travel the Louds did, so it made sense to fix it up a little.

The Loud sisters and Chandler got into the van, and their friends stood next to them waving goodbye. "Good luck out there, guys," Carol called out. "We'll keep in touch."

"Thanks, Carol," said Lori. "But, whatever happens... do NOT tell your parents about this. Any of you. We don't want the whole town in a panic."

"You got it, girl." Carol gave her a thumbs up.

Lori adjusted the mirror and gave her sisters a confident smile. "Alright, guys... let's get Lincoln back."


	4. Chapter 4

The gang's car pulled up at a large, seemingly abandoned warehouse, and Elijah was carried inside and laid down on a couch.

It took a moment for him to wake up. "Ugh... what happened?"

"You were knocked out for ten hours," Shelly answered. "The white-haired kid got away with his friends."

"Oh geez... any idea where he went?"

"Not really..." said Norman. "We let him go so we could bring you here safely."

Elijah looked as if he had just heard the dumbest sentence he'd ever heard. "You did WHAT?"

"We... let him go."

"Are you kidding me? If that kid rats us out, we're dead meat!"

"It was for your own good, boss!" Jay tried to defend him.

"Look guys... I'm just scared that we'll get caught, y'know?"

As Gator ran around playing with the animals he'd found, Shelly gave Elijah a concerned look. "Yeah... we need to get as much money as we can before that happens. That way we can save-"

"I know, I know. But anyway... I need to stay here for a while."

"What can we do to help?" Norman asked.

"I want you to get out there and look for that kid. If you find him, bring him to me."

"You've got it, boss!" Shelly called out as she and her teammates got into the car. They drove off, and Elijah looked down at a photo of a woman about his age. "Don't worry, Eva. I'll save you... hopefully."

At the hotel, Lincoln, Clyde, and Cristina were sleeping soundly. Lincoln was the first to wake up, and the other two eventually followed.

"Morning," Cristina yawned.

"Alright..." Lincoln decided to make the plans for the day. "We'll get something to eat to start us off, and we'll keep moving."

"Wait a minute. I thought we were just hiding from those criminals. I thought we were just looking for your brother!"

"Well, we are... I'm pretty sure he's really far from here, though. And, uh... he might not be real."

Cristina looked irritated. "...excuse me?"

She pulled Lincoln outside by the ear as Clyde carefully followed them. "You're telling me you're running away from home to look for someone who probably doesn't even exist?"

"Well, I feel like I need to make sure..."

"I'm not wasting my time on this! I need to get home! My family might be worried sick!"

Clyde attempted to distract them from their argument by pulling up some information on his phone. "There's a guy named Linus who goes to Imperial Grove University... you think that might be him?"

"Linus could be anyone!" Cristina reasoned. "Besides, Imperial Grove is really far away... I'm not even sure you'll survive a trip like that."

"If this Linus guy really is my brother," Lincoln explained, "I need to find him and bring him home. That way, the rest of my family will be able to get to know him and we'll all be happy!"

"Lincoln... what do you mean 'happy'? What even happened at your house?"

Lincoln looked down at his feet, stuttering as he tried to explain. "Well... I-I..." He started to cry a bit. "I tried to explain the possibility of a lost brother to my sisters, and... Lori mocked me for it and tore apart my favorite comic."

"So let me get this straight... you're running away and looking for a brother that might not even exist because your sister ripped a comic book?"

"It's not just that, Cristina!" Lincoln started yelling at her. "Your moronic twin brother? He was part of it too! Ronnie Anne leaving has been bothering me for a long time as well! But you wouldn't understand because you're not constantly bogged down by ten sisters!"

"Is that seriously what you think?" By this point, Cristina was furious. "You think I don't know how you feel because I don't have a huge family? I... I just... maybe Chandler was right."

"Oh, so you're siding with HIM now? Do you not know how many times he's made me feel miserable?"

Lincoln and Cristina locked stares as Clyde stood at the side, trying not to get too caught up in the argument.

Cristina finally started to turn away. "If all you care about is yourself and your stupid 'brother'... I don't want any part in this."

"Fine! We don't need you!" Lincoln yelled. "Me and Clyde are going out on our own!"

"FINE!"

Lincoln quickly turned around and ran off, with Clyde chasing after him. As Cristina walked away, she turned back for a moment and watched them leave. _Imperial Grove University?_ she thought. _That's where my sister goes... I never got to say goodbye to her..._

She watched the boys hop onto a train, and just kept watching as it passed by.

Lincoln sighed. It had been five hours since he and Clyde had hopped on the train. He knew that they were several miles away from Royal Woods by now, and hopefully he would be able to convince Ronnie Anne to help him. But the argument with Cristina had him feeling down.

Clyde put his hand on Lincoln's shoulder. "Hey... sorry about Cristina."

"It's fine," said Lincoln. "If we can get Ronnie Anne to come with us, that'll make up for it."

The sun was starting to set now, and the boys gazed at the golden horizon. Who knew what else was going to come their way? Only time would tell.

"Crud!" Clyde realized. "My dads! They're probably worried sick..."

Lincoln suddenly had a thought - a thought that seemed to distress him. "Clyde?" he prompted.

"What's wrong?" Clyde answered.

"What... what if Cristina's right? What if I really don't have a brother and I basically dragged you into this for nothing?" Lincoln's face was filled with a sort of dread and guilt. "Would you... hate me?"

"What? No!" Clyde tried to comfort him. "I would never hate you for that. You're my best friend! ...You're like a brother to me, Lincoln."

Lincoln smiled as Clyde put his arm around his shoulder. "Thanks, Clyde."

The train arrived at an urban plaza. One of the buildings sported a glowing sign that read, "Casagrande".

"Woah," Clyde marveled the sign. "Is that her house?"

"Yep..." Lincoln replied, almost blushing. "That's Ronnie Anne's house."

The boys grabbed their bags and leaped off the train. They approached the Casagrande building, but soon realized it would be difficult to get in.

"The front door has a bell attached," Lincoln explained. "We'll need to find some other way inside."

"I dunno," said Clyde. "Do you have anything in your bag that could work?"

"Hmm..." Lincoln dug through his bag and pulled out a pair of gloves and some sticky foam darts. "Maybe I could stick these darts onto the fingers of these gloves and use them to climb up the wall."

"Not a bad idea, actually."

Lincoln slipped on the gloves and attached the darts to the fingers, then put his hand against the wall to see if it would work. Sure enough, it did.

He started climbing up the wall as Clyde stayed down below, watching for any intruders.

A black cat leaped onto a box in front of Clyde and sat down, staring at him.

"Hey there, little fella," Clyde greeted the cat. But it just kept staring.

Within the next ten seconds, more cats showed up - and they all looked the same. Their cold stares made Clyde's heart stop with fear.

One by one, the cats approached Clyde as he started slowly backing up.

"Nice kitty... nice kitty..." He attempted to calm them down, but found no results.

Lincoln was almost up to Ronnie Anne's window by this point, and he saw Clyde backing up close to the door. "Be careful, Clyde..." he said nervously. He was about to climb back down and help him when suddenly-

"Lame-o?"

Lincoln gasped. Ronnie Anne was looking down at him, confused.

"Uh..." Lincoln felt embarassed. "H-hey, Ronnie Anne..."

She pulled him up through the window. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Well..." Lincoln stuttered a bit. "S-some bad stuff happened back home, and... I MIGHT have a lost brother. So... I came here to get you."

Ronnie Anne blushed at the sound of the last part. "Y-you... you came all this way... for me?"

Lincoln smiled. "Yeah..."

After a few seconds, Ronnie Anne embraced him in one of the warmest hugs he'd ever been given. Lincoln returned the hug; his feelings for her had finally been released to their fullest.

"So..." Ronnie Anne said as they let each other go. "Are you going to say goodbye?"

"Well, I would," Lincoln answered, "but there's one problem."

Ronnie Anne gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm kinda sorta on the run from a gang of criminals."

"...you're WHAT?"

"Yeah. The leader's trying to catch me and make me part of his so-called 'family' or something."

Ronnie Anne glared at the thought of Lincoln being threatened. She grabbed a suitcase and a bunch of clothes, saying, "Uh-uh. No way... no one is going to hurt my friend... and NO ONE-"

They suddenly heard meowing and hissing from the halls. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne looked out her door and realized that Clyde had accidentally let the cats in.

"Oh geez," Ronnie Anne cried. "They're gonna tear up the furniture!" She rushed to the kitchen and quickly grabbed a can of tuna out of the fridge, then pulled a piece out and tossed it out the window. The cats promptly leaped out.

A few moments later, Ronnie Anne zipped up her jacket as Clyde pulled the last cat off of him. Lincoln turned to them and asked, "Should we stick around for the night?"

"No, we're leaving now," Ronnie replied as she picked up her bag. "If I have to kick somebody's butt, I will."

"That's good to hear, Ronnie."

Another train was coming close to the plaza. The three kids ran as fast as they could, leaping over every obstacle in their path and eventually hopping onto the train.

"Hoo boy..." Ronnie Anne panted. "I don't think I've ever run that fast in my life..."


	5. Chapter 5

It was 10:30 at night, and Lori and her sisters agreed that they needed to find a place to stay for the night. The two vans pulled over to a motel just across the street, and the kids brought their things inside.

Luna was the first to speak. "So dudes... what time are we wakin' up tomorrow?"

"Any time is fine by me," Chandler replied. "It's not like I have a choice anyway."

As the leader of the search team, Lori knew she needed to make a decision. "We'll get up and eat breakfast at 7:30, then we're out."

They decided to split two rooms amongst themselves. Lori, Luna, Lucy, Lisa, Lily, and Chandler got one room; and Leni, Luan, Lynn, Lana, and Lola got the other.

Luna smiled as her girlfriend Sam performed a live cover of ''Sweet Child of Mine''. Anything that could ease the tension the family was going through was enough for her. Lily was sleeping soundly, and Chandler sat and played his video game silently, with no apparent intentions to interact with the Loud sisters.

Lucy and Lisa were both having a bubble bath. Being a goth and a kid scientist, respectively, they did not play; they just sat and studied the bubbles forming and popping in the tub.

"Y'know, Lucy," Lisa began, "each bubble consists of millions of gas molecules surrounded by liquid molecules all over."

Lucy nodded. "I like to think of those molecules as tiny people. When the planet - the bubble - explodes, all of those people vanish forever."

"Not necessarily," Lisa explained. "The molecules would quickly burst out of the thin layer of liquid in many different directions. They would travel somewhere else."

"So... the molecules are like souls..."

"...going into the afterlife, whatever it may be."

"Wicked."

They smiled at each other, proud of the correlation they had made.

A moment later, they were in their pajamas and ready for bed. But Lucy didn't want to go just yet. She reached into her jet-black coffin-shaped purse and pulled out Lori's old photo with the ever-enigmatic boy.

"That must be the picture Lincoln was talking about at dinner last night!" Lisa exclaimed.

"Exactly," said Lucy. "But don't tell Lori I brought it with me."

She put the picture back in her purse and walked out of the bathroom with Lisa, only to find something they didn't know they would have to worry about.

Lori was sitting up straight on her bed, facing the wall. She was having so much trouble sleeping she was hoping someone would walk over and knock her out cold.

"Lori?" Lucy checked on her, noticing her restless expression. "Are you OK?"

Lori seemed to snap back into reality upon hearing this question. "Uh... yeah, I'm fine. Just got a little... distracted."

"You don't get 'a little distracted' for ten whole minutes," Chandler said, laying down on the couch with his legs crossed and his hands behind his head. "It doesn't work that way."

Lori sighed and got under her blanket, bringing Lily close enough to snuggle with her. "We should really get some sleep. We'll have to wake up bright and early tomorrow."

But even ten minutes after everyone else had fallen asleep, Lori kept staring at the fan. She felt empty, as if her life was missing something... or someone.

 _In a forest in Illinois_

Clyde brought some sticks over to the area Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were sitting at. They had gone about 145 miles over the past few hours and were camping out that night.

"So..." Ronnie Anne began. "Did you guys bring food?"

"Yep," said Lincoln, as he pulled out a bag of marshmallows.

A few minutes later, the fire was ready and the kids were roasting their marshmallows. They were rather silent as they sat there, but at the time there wasn't much to talk about. Finally, Ronnie Anne turned to Lincoln and asked the question she'd been meaning to ask since she found him at his window.

"D-did... did you really miss me?"

Lincoln sighed. "Yeah. I did. ...OK, I know this is gonna sound... really corny, but... I was at one of my friend's parties last night, and... I had a daydream... about you?"

Ronnie Anne looked him in the eyes, and suddenly he shuddered.

"Well, uh, I mean... I was just imagining what it would be like if you were there... we'd probably... what was the word I heard you use? Jam?"

"Dude, I know you have a crush on me," Ronnie Anne said. "We're basically dating now. We're cool."

"D-dating...?"

"Well, not in a sophisticated, old-fashioned sense or anything. Just... dating. And listen, Lincoln..." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I had to leave so soon. I was hoping I could hang out with you more often, because... I think you're handsome."

Lincoln jumped at the sound of the word. "R-really?"

"Uh..." Ronnie Anne seemed to be looking through the woods for ways to cover up her statement. "I-I mean you're _in some_ chaos over at your house. Y'know, ten sisters and all?"

"Hey, don't worry about it. I mean... you are the most beautiful girl I've ever met, so..." Lincoln shrugged.

Ronnie Anne blushed. "Lincoln... that's... that's really sweet."

"But Ronnie... you don't like mushy romance."

"No, listen... no one has ''ever'' called me beautiful. Guys always make fun of my freckles or my buck teeth. They tell me... I'm not a 'real' girl."

Lincoln chuckled. "Expectations, y'know what I mean?"

"Heh... yeah."

They smiled at each other contently.

"You remind me of Lynn," said Lincoln. "And... kinda Lori too."

His smile weakened, and he turned away in a flash. Ronnie Anne reached out to him once more. "Hey... what's wrong, lame-o? C'mon, you can tell me."

Clyde had been paying attention to his video game as Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were talking, and only now did he realize Lincoln was starting to cry.

"I-I miss my sisters," Lincoln whimpered.

"I'm sure they miss you too..."

"I... I'm sorry if I sound stupid crying like this... I sound like a wimp..."

"N-no! No you don't. It's... it's normal to cry... even for me. Because, like..." Ronnie struggled to get the words out. "...My dad died when I was little. That day was the worst I'd felt in my life. And... that's why I act like the bully people think I am. Because I think if I can lash out on other people, my own insecurities will go away. But... they never do."

Somehow, Lincoln knew how she felt, and he was blubbering with the conflicting emotions he was going through. Ronnie Anne pulled out the Royal Woods sweatshirt Lincoln had given her a while back, and gave it to him. "Here... wipe it with this."

Lincoln grabbed the sweater and hugged her tight, crying into her shoulder.

Clyde didn't bother to spoil the moment. He just sat there smiling, touched at the moment and its preciousness, and hoping things would be the same with him and Lo-

A rustling noise. He pulled his flashlight out of his pocket and flicked it on. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne followed suit.

"Shouldn't you go check it out...?" Ronnie Anne asked Clyde.

"Heck no! Have you WATCHED Stranger Things? Everyone who goes out alone gets attacked by the-"

"OK, OK, just be quiet."

The three kids huddled up together, holding their flashlights towards the area the rustling was coming from. Within a short moment, a large, fuzzy brown creature slowly approached their campsite, its teeth seemingly glowing in the moonlight.

"RUN!"

The kids quickly grabbed their things and started running as the bear chased them. Clyde was falling behind a bit, struggling to catch up.

"Clyde, run faster!" Lincoln yelled.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

The bear almost caught Clyde's leg, but Lincoln pulled him forward just in time. They kept running as fast as they could until Lincoln tripped over a root, landing right in the bear's path.

"NO!" Ronnie Anne cried out as the bear stomped closer to her boyfriend.

Lincoln stared into the bear's dark eyes with fear. "N-nice teddy bear..." he stuttered as he felt its chilly, harsh breath, each release stronger than the last. The bear growled, its teeth set up in perfect, shiny triangles, as it prepared to devour Lincoln Marie Loud.

"Hey, you!" a voice called out. Cristina stepped up to the bear with a slingshot and a sack of rocks, ready to draw. "Pick on someone your own size!"

The bear gulped and ran away as swiftly as it had come.

"Cristina!" Clyde yelled with joy. "You came back!"

"Y-you... saved me..." said Lincoln with a grateful smile on his face.

Cristina grinned with pride. "Rule number one of being a Bluebell Scout: always stick up for your friends!"

Ronnie Anne stood in front of Cristina, looking embarassed. "Uh, hey... you probably know me... 'cause of that incident with the blouse and the fruit punch... I'm sorry about that."

"We're cool, Ronnie Anne," Cristina gave her a handshake.

"Heh... thanks, Duchess."

"So, you just give everyone nicknames?" Lincoln asked.

"It's a special case with Cristina," she replied. "We were rivals in first grade... and second... and third..."

"But it's all good now," Cristina finished.

"Hey, that's great! Now... about the campsite..."

Clyde looked back at the fire. "I guess we shouldn't stay out here like this."

"Follow me," Cristina suggested firmly. "I know there's an old cabin around here somewhere."

"Y-you haven't watched The Evil Dead, have you? Old cabins always mean-"

"Stop being such a dork, Clyde!" Ronnie Anne yelled. She smirked a bit. "Heh... that's my nickname for you. Dork."

"Uh, OK... heh, heh." Clyde smiled nervously as the four kids continued to walk through the woods.

 _Imperial Grove, Missouri; Midnight_

The dorms at Imperial Grove University were dark this late at night... except for a select few. These dorms were occupied by the students who were getting real busy for their last year of college.

One student in particular was very busy with his assignments. He sat at his desk with his lamp illuminating the area around him, so he could properly read the words on the paper. He sported a brown, plaid, long-sleeved flannel shirt and a matching beanie, plus a pair of khakis and custom-made black Velcro shoes. One could make out a portion of dirty blonde hair drooping out of his beanie.

The truth is, he was very drowsy right about then. He just wanted to get some sleep already. But he knew this was his final year of his higher education, and he needed to do everything just right to succeed.

The phone on his desk started to ring. He picked it up and put it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Linus," a cheerful female voice greeted from the other end. "You ready for tomorrow's test?"

"Yeah..." Linus answered with a sigh. "I gotta stay up real late working on these assignments, though."

"I understand," the girl said. A brief moment of silence came after these words, then she continued. "So... you wanna go bowling this weekend?"

Linus smiled a bit; he was still very tired, but the girl seemed to have brought some more life into his sleep-deprived mind. "Sure, Cici. Let's try 4:30 PM on Saturday, alright?"

"OK, peanut," Cici agreed to his plan. "I'll see you tomorrow!" She hung up, leaving Linus alone and tired again. Linus and Cici had been dating for nearly four years - essentially since they started college. They were both doing very well in their classes; Linus had plans to become a comic book artist, and Cici wanted to be an elementary school teacher. But something just felt _off_ about his life so far.

The news showed up on the television in his room. The reporter gave the camera a solemn look as she began her report.

"Attention all citizens... the menacing criminal Elijah Firestone continues to roam the streets after five years. He has performed such acts as robbery, grand theft, trespassing, kidnapping, and several others. If you see him, please turn him in to the police immediately. Such an action will be greatly appreciated."

"You dolt," Linus cursed through his teeth. "We were both kids when we met."

He switched off the TV and opened the top drawer in his desk, closest to him. He slipped out an old photograph depicting himself as a little boy, as well as a younger blonde girl. They were posing on a cold winter day in front of their creation - a war between snowmen and snow aliens. The two of them looked so happy together - the blonde girl was giving the camera a toothy smile, and Linus himself was shown holding up a thumb as he wrapped his arm around the younger girl.

Linus couldn't have looked more ashamed. "I'm sorry, Lori. You know I miss you...

...sis."


	6. Chapter 6

Upon arriving at the cabin, Cristina began dusting the floor with her personal broom and dustpan so Lincoln, Clyde, and Ronnie Anne could lay down their sleeping bags. It wasn't long before they all went to sleep.

 _Then Lincoln realized..._

 _He was alone._

 _There was a strange red light outside the cabin. He opened the door..._

 _And saw nothing but ash and stone. The woods just didn't seem to be the woods anymore._

 _What had it all become? And why? The state of the world around him seemed familiar... but he just couldn't figure out how._

 _Then he saw his family._

 _And they seemed furious._

 _"OK, OK," said Lincoln. "I know you're all mad that I ran aw-"_

 _"Do you see all this?" Lori yelled. "Do you see what you did?"_

 _"Uhh... did I...?"_

 ** _"We literally hate you, Lincoln!"_**

 _"Yeah, what she said!" Lana called out._

 _Lola stuck out her tongue with disgust, and Lily blew raspberries at Lincoln._

 _Lincoln stared in horror as his family glared at him, throwing their dreaded insults at him from every direction._

 _"Looking at you is enough to wipe the smile off my face!" bellowed Luan._

 _"You're worse than the black plague..." Lucy scolded._

 _"I wouldn't even waste a Dutch oven on you!" Lynn Jr. shrieked._

 _Even their parents had something to say._ _ **"We never wanted a son!"**_

 _Lisa crossed her arms. "You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity."_

 _An array of spotlights shined on Lincoln, as Luna began rocking out a tune to express her disdain._

 ** _"I hate everything about you! Why do I love you?"_**

 _Luna's band kept playing the music as her eyes flared with fury. "You wanna know what you are, Lincoln?"_

 _The next two words were the most horrifying words Lincoln had heard in his entire existence._

 ** _"You're NOTHING."_**

 _Suddenly, the ground collapsed beneath him, and he found himself falling into a giant oil pit. He grabbed onto a ledge, but the oil was rising as his sisters laughed maniacally._

 _Clyde, Ronnie Anne, and Cristina were looking down at him. "GUYS!" Lincoln cried. "Get me out of here!"_

 _But his friends just stared solemnly. "You had your chance to stop it, Lincoln," said Ronnie Anne. "But it's too late now. Don't you get it? Everything dies."_

 _They turned and walked away, leaving Lincoln alone in the pit again. He seemed to hear a million melancholy voices saying, "Goodbye, Lincoln..."_

 _The oil was rising to his neck. "No! '''NO!'''" He tried to scream for help, but it was no use. He was going to fade into nothingness... which, quite frankly, he already was._

 _"Help! No! WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME!_ _ **LORI!**_ _"_

Lincoln woke up with a yelp. He looked around swiftly. No oil. No creepy red light. It was morning. His friends were still there.

He let out a breath of relief, glad that he and the world around him were safe and sound.

Still... there was something about that nightmare that felt eerily familiar to him. But that could wait until later... he definitely didn't want those thoughts distracting him right then.

Ronnie Anne slowly sat up and yawned. "You OK, lame-o? I heard you scream."

"Really bad dream," Lincoln answered. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Cristina was leaning against Clyde, smiling. They both started to wake up, and Cristina jumped with shock. "Clyde? I... oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to get too close!"

"It's fine, Cristina," Clyde reassured her, albeit drowsily. "I... kinda liked it, actually."

They all stood up. Cristina started brushing her hair, Ronnie Anne zipped up her sweater, and Clyde put on his glasses.

"So... what are we gonna eat for breakfast?" Clyde asked.

Lincoln seemed to already have an idea. "Maybe we should go fishing."

His three friends looked at each other to check for approval, and Ronnie Anne decided, "I don't see why not."

 _Forest Royale Motel; around the same time_

Chandler sulked in his seat as he ate breakfast with the Louds. He didn't know if he could stand these people much longer, but he chose to keep it to himself for now. He figured his emotions were ruining the taste of the scrambled eggs anyway.

Lynn sat down next to him with a heaping plate of strawberry pancakes. Chandler glared at her, but she tried to stay calm. "Listen, Chandler," she began. "I know this isn't what you want, but you were the last person who saw Lincoln before us."

"Technically, Clyde and 'Tina saw him last," Chandler blurted out. "You can't just blame me for everything."

"I'm not stupid, Chandler. I know what you did. When Lincoln came home that night, he had a black eye. And honestly, if he just came home from you and your sister's party with a black eye, which one do you think did it?"

"So? It could have been one of my friends!"

"They don't have enough beef against Lincoln to hit him that hard."

"He attacked me first! And that was just because I made fun of his precious girlfriend! All I did was defend myself! You would have done the same thing!"

Lynn stared at him, stunned with fury. "Are you TRYING to make me mad, smart one?"

"You do realize he broke the only trophy your football team has ever won, right? Aren't you at least a LITTLE mad?"

"N-no! Why would I be punch him in the eye for that?!"

"Because YOU made the winning goal, Leonard!"

Lynn swiftly grabbed Chandler by the collar of his shirt, glaring at him like an angry bulldog. "You had better get Lincoln back... or I'll be your worst nightmare."

Chandler just smirked smugly. "Maybe you will, maybe you won't. It's not like my nightmares will matter in the long run."

Lynn clenched her fist and got ready to punch him, until Lori grabbed her and pulled her away from the area. But Lynn just continued to yell and scream. "Chandler, you're dead meat next time! You hear me? _**DEAD MEAT!**_ "

Everyone in the room stared at the Louds, and a hush quickly fell over the room.

Lori glanced at one of the motel employees. "Uh... can we get our breakfast to go?"

A few hours after they left the motel, "Southern Nights" began playing on the radio, and Luna and Luan sang along out of boredom.

"Lincoln's still missing, y'know..." Lucy blatantly reminded them.

Leni was sitting next to Lori at the front, and she gazed out the window like a dog, letting the wind blow past her face and through her hair. "Ooooh! Look at all the truffula trees passing by!"

"Leni, those aren't truffula trees," Lori tried to tell her.

"Oh, whatever they are, they look really nice."

Lana and Lola were playing rock-paper-scissors on opposite sides of Lisa, who was trying to read the newspaper they had just received that morning.

"Twins, move your oversized manus so I can read," said Lisa.

"What?" Lana questioned her. "We can't even play a game without your nerdiness messing things up?"

"I'd take nerdy over dirty any day, to be honest." Lola dusted her gloves to clean off Lana's dirt as she said this.

"Well excuuuuuse me, princess!"

"Try me, you little rat!"

The twins got caught up in a whirling cloud of dust as they started beating each other up, and Lisa was stuck in the middle of it.

"Nice job, twins!" Lisa yelled. "You ripped up the newspaper!"

"Guys, calm down," Lori reasoned with them. "I'm trying to drive here."

"I'm trying to sing here!" Luna cried out.

"We're trying to play rock-paper-scissors here!" Lana shrieked.

"I'm trying to gaze out the window here!" Leni screamed.

"I'm trying to sit here." Lucy sighed.

"Poo-poo!" Lily babbled in the booster seat.

All the other sisters started screaming and yelling at each other, and Lori groaned with annoyance. Even Chandler rolled his eyes as everyone else argued.

Suddenly, they found themselves pulling too close to a Jeep. Lori swiftly turned the wheel to the other side as hard as she could so they didn't run into whoever was in the Jeep.

They all got out to confront the Jeep riders - who turned out to be Jay, Shelly, Norman, and Gator.

"You almost ran into us, girl!" Shelly exclaimed.

"Well, these people were distracting me!" Lori retorted.

"It wasn't my fault!" said Lola. "Lana here was getting her dirt all over my dress!"

"Hey, you ASKED to play rock-paper-scissors!"

"Now hold on a minute." Jay tried to calm them all down. "What are you guys doin' here anyway?"

The Loud sisters all gave each other glances, trying to think of a response that wouldn't attract too much attention.

Chandler had a solution. "We're going to a birthday party."

"Oooohh, a birthday party, huh?" Jay responded. "I love birthday parties."

"I had my 12th one two days ago."

"You serious? I had my 27th that same day!"

"Huh. Well... happy belated birthday!"

"Same to you, man."

"OK, so anyway..." Lynn tried to get to the point. "We're going to pick up one of our, uh, relatives to take to the party. He's got white hair. Have you seen him... y'know, maybe walking around town?"

"A white-haired kid..." Jay glanced at Shelly and Norman, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Yeah, I think I've seen him around here."

The Loud sisters were getting excited, knowing that they were now one step closer to finding Lincoln.

"Do you know which way we should go?" asked Luna.

"Uhhh, yeah... he went over there to the right, I think."

"Let's go, guys!" Lori called them back into Vanzilla, and they took off.

The girls all cheered and sang along with the last lines of "Southern Nights" as they kept rolling down the road. Chandler just shrugged and crossed his legs, putting his hands behind his head as he left everyone else have their fun.

''Something tells me stuff's gonna happen that tears them all apart,'' he thought.

"Wait a minute, guys," said Luan. "Where's Leni?"

Leni had left Vanzilla and wandered out into the woods while her sisters were talking to Jay. She hugged a tree, smelling its fresh bark.

"Aaaaahh, such a precious truffula tree," she said softly.

Then she heard the crunching of leaves.

"You DO realize they weren't actually going to a birthday party, right Jay?"

"Eh, I figured as much. We better find the kid before they do."

Jay, Shelly, and Norman were looking through the woods for Lincoln. Leni knew she had to act fast.

She got up in front of them and asked, "You can help me find him... right?"

Jay smirked. "Oh, we'll help you find him, all right..." He and Shelly grabbed Leni and threw her in the trunk.

 _Elijah's warehouse; approx. an hour away_

"Wh-where are you guys taking me...?" Leni asked as Jay and Shelly guided her into their warehouse a few hours later.

"We're gonna introduce you to our boss," Shelly answered.

They arrived in a small office, where Elijah was waiting. Leni stepped forward. "Uh... hi...?"

Elijah glared at his colleagues. "What did I tell you about bringing more kids into the warehouse?"

"We couldn't find the white-haired kid," said Jay, "but this girl seems to know enough about him to lead us to him."

"L-Lincoln?!" Leni yelled. "Why is THIS guy looking for Lincoln?"

Jay ignored her. "You think she could be a good fit... or somethin'?"

"Maybe... she knows his name, at least..." Elijah pondered it, looking up at Leni every few seconds. "She seems a bit too... nice... but let's find out. Here, take a seat."

Leni sat down right in front of Elijah.

"Now, this questionnaire is gonna help us determine if we're gonna benefit from having you here in the long run. First question... you go to the store and see something you really want, but you don't have enough money. What do you do?"

Leni thought for a bit, then answered, "Leave the store and find ways to save up money, then come back and buy it."

"But what if you want it right away? Before anyone else gets to it?"

"Oh, I'd ask to borrow my friend's money. I always shop with friends."

"Ugh... OK, let's say you're waiting to buy a movie ticket and there's an old lady who's taking too long. What would you do?"

"I'd cut in front of them and buy my ticket!"

"Atta girl!"

"...and then apologize to the poor old lady and buy her ticket for her!"

Elijah finally put his head into his hands. "It's useless... she's no good for us. Take her back where you found her!"

"WAIT!" Norman called out. "I think I've got something around here that could still be useful!"

He dug through his boxes of inventions, tossing out old creations one by one, until he finally found a strange-looking helmet.

His colleagues stared with surprise - and so did Leni. "It looks like something from another dimension," she said.

"I wish it was," came Norman's deadpan response.

A while later, Leni was all comfortable in the chair as the helmet lay strapped onto her head. Norman had a switch in his hand as Elijah, Shelly, Jay, and Gator all surrounded him.

"Now guys," he began, "you'll need to be really careful. Because when I flick this switch, the helmet's electrodes will release tons of energy."

"So how does that affect the girl?" asked Jay.

"Well... sources say that the use of technology can rewire a person's brain to an extent. So my hypothesis is: if I can use scraps from a mobile device and connect them to this electric helmet device, I can rewrite her nervous system to make her... smarter."

"Ooooohh! You're gonna make me smart?" Leni was excited by the mere thought of being more intelligent.

"Alright... you might wanna back away..." The gang slowly stepped away from Leni and the helmet.

Norman flicked the switch.

The energy began flowing through the helmet and Leni started to shiver. "Wh-what's h-h-happening?"

Slowly, metal objects all around the warehouse began to inch closer to Leni. "This thing's energy is so strong it's creating a strange magnetic force," Norman explained.

The fluorescent lights began to flicker on and off. "And now it's affecting the electrical circuits!"

"Are you insane, Norm?!" Elijah was bewildered. "You're gonna kill her!"

"No I'm not! Trust me!"

They had to grab onto the desk as the magnetic force began to pull them in. The metal was covering Leni from her feet to her neck, and she was getting dizzy at this point.

"Dude! This whole place is gonna blow!" Shelly yelled.

Norman just let out a wild laugh. He knew his creation would not fail him.

As the last bits of metal landed around Leni, a final pulse of energy sent it launching in every direction, and the gang fell down to the ground, apparently unharmed. The helmet, however, had fallen apart into tiny pieces.

Leni stared at them. "Whoa... I feel..."

Then she smirked.

 **"BAD!"**

She jumped out of her seat and gave Elijah and his teammates a high five as they all laughed.

"Leni is so simple-minded that, ironically, it didn't take too much effort to rewire her thinking," Norman concluded. "At least, she ''used'' to be. Now she's capable of so much more!"

"Great work, Norm!" Elijah gave him a pat on the back, then stood in front of Leni, giving her his flak jacket. "Alright, Seafoam... lead us to Lincoln!"


	7. Chapter 7

Lincoln, Clyde, Cristina, and Ronnie Anne had reeled in enough fish for the whole day as they continued their trek to Imperial Grove. They didn't know where they were, but they knew where they were going... if only because of the compass Cristina had brought with her.

"We're moving southeast," she said, reading the compass. "That's the way to Missouri, right?"

"We've been hiking for hours..." Ronnie Anne groaned. "No train in sight... no more cabins... nothing but wilderness..."

"It's still possible to gather fruit."

"Did I ask?"

"Well, I mean... we really should," said Clyde.

So they did. They searched through the forest for different kinds of berries, rinsing them with water buckets - courtesy of Cristina, of course.

A couple hours later, the kids had sat down on a hill, with a perfect view of the golden sunset just ahead. They set up a fire to cook their fish and placed the chunks on paper plates with the berries.

Lincoln knew he had to ask Cristina. "So... why did you decide to come with us?"

She sighed. "Well, you see... my sister Cecille - Cici for short - goes to Imperial Grove University. I was at a slumber party the night before she left the house, and I wanted to tell her goodbye..." She shed a small tear as she went on. "But... I never got the chance..."

"Hey..." Clyde reassured her. "At least you HAVE a sibling."

"Heh, yeah. I still have more siblings back home. George is a rocker, just like Lincoln's sister Luna..."

"Is he friends with Sam Sharp?" asked Lincoln.

"Oh yeah, her!" Cristina remembered. "Yeah, George performs with Sam. He's got a girlfriend named Ruth. ...so uh, then there's Chandler and Lyndsey..."

"Lyndsey Sweetwater?" Lincoln needed confirmation that he was thinking of the right one.

"That's her!"

"Woah... Lyndsey and Lola compete very often... our families are more connected than I thought they were!"

"Huh, I guess so!"

Ronnie Anne chuckled. "Remember when we visited your house for Thanksgiving? Lola and Carl are gonna be going cuckoo for each other."

All three of them laughed with each other, but Clyde just looked down at the ground, ashamed.

Lincoln gave him a pat on the back. "Hey man... don't feel left out. Remember when you told me I was like a brother to you?"

Clyde looked up at his best friend, who continued, "That was the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Clyde. I see you as a brother too."

He turned to all his friends. "You're all a family to me."

They all smiled at him, but Lincoln's own smile was slowly falling again.

"Dang it... my sisters... they're probably still looking for me..."

"Oh yeah..." said Cristina. "Chandler must be real mad that I ran off with you guys."

"Eh, who cares about HIM?"

"Y'know, Chandler may be a jerk, but he DOES have a heart."

"Oh, sure..."

Clyde wasn't even paying attention to them. He was staring down the hill at something as the sun descended into the horizon.

"Uh... do you guys see that warehouse down there...?"

"You ''just now'' noticed that?" Ronnie Anne questioned him.

"Well, come on," Lincoln suggested. "Let's go check it out."

The kids carefully stepped down from the hill, looking around for anything suspicious. Ronnie Anne clenched her fists, ready to brawl if necessary. There was a small golf cart a short distance away from the warehouse, but no one was using it.

Cristina noticed a man riding a motorcycle into the warehouse from the other side. Then she saw more.

"Guys," she whispered. "I think this is Elijah's warehouse."

Ronnie Anne didn't seem to understand. "Who's Elijah?"

"The leader of that gang who's out to get me," Lincoln answered.

"In that case, we better be careful."

The four of them snuck inside from the back and kept an eye out for Elijah's goons. Lincoln looked around in case there was anything useful in the warehouse.

Sure enough, he found some more food to take with him. Sandwiches in cans... who does that?... potato chips, fruit that hadn't been picked straight off a bush... well, at least not right before eating it.

Lincoln silently, yet quickly grabbed the food and showed it to his friends.

"Jackpot!" said Clyde as he grabbed a bag of barbecue-flavored chips out of Lincoln's arms.

 **"HEY!"** They heard someone yell. "Who took our food?!"

"We better get out of here!" Lincoln yelped.

A group of goons walked out the back door. "There they are! Get 'em!"

The kids started running as the goons chased after them. They quickly jumped into the golf cart and scrambled for the keys; after Ronnie Anne found them on the floor of the cart, she switched it on and hit the gas as hard as she could, driving with the other kids back into the forest.

"Hey, this seems like it could be an easier way to travel," Lincoln noticed.

"Hang on, lame-o!" Ronnie Anne yelled.

The motorcycle goon hopped on his bike and tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't budge. "Dang it... forgot I needed gas... We better call the boss man. He'll know what to do."

 _Meanwhile_

The Loud sisters and Chandler just kept on driving. Even at 8:30 PM, they were still restless from Leni's disappearance.

"We literally can't find Leni anywhere!" Lori exclaimed.

"I can't believe we were stupid enough to leave her behind..." Lana whined.

"Oh, calm down, dudes," Luna tried to comfort her sisters. "Leni probably just got lost. She'll catch up to us... somehow..."

"Knowing her, there's at MOST a 24% chance she will," said Lisa, blankly.

"Sssshhhhh." Lynn put her finger over Lisa's mouth. "We can't distress the little kids."

"I AM a little kid."

"Oh. Right."

Lori saw a restaurant just off the road. "Well, we haven't eaten dinner yet... so let's pull in here and get something."

As they pulled in, they got a good look at the sign. The name of the restaurant, _**ONOFREDO'S SUBS & SWEETS**_, glowed in neon yellow letters.

"...that name gives me a strange feeling," said Lisa.

They got out of Vanzilla and walked through the doors of Onofredo's, and the man in overalls at the counter gave them an apathetic look. His nametag read "Marco".

"Welcome to Onofredo's, may I take your order?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Lynn laughed, pointing at his overalls. "Your lame outfit! Ha!"

"This from the girl who sings the John Cena theme in the shower," Lori mocked her.

"Touché."

Lori turned and faced her sisters and Chandler. "You guys have any spare cash?"

Chandler pulled out the insides of his pockets, letting them know he had no money on him.

"OK... anyone else?"

The sisters pulled out their money, and Lori sighed, knowing what she had to do. "Take a little bit and give it to Chandler, please."

"Alright," said Marco. "NOW may I take your order?"

"Deluxe 12-inch Greek sandwich, please," Lori requested.

Luna smirked. "Tuna. Lots of it."

"Anything spicy," said Lynn.

"Give me the darkest meat you have," Lucy demanded bluntly.

"Fancy everything!" Lola grinned.

"Can I get a sub with no veggies?" asked Lana.

"Can I get a sub with ONLY veggies?" asked Lisa.

"I'm holding out for a HERO til the end of the night!" Luan chuckled at her pun.

Marco gave her a weird look. "Yeah, but... what kind of hero?"

"Oooooohhh..." Luan looked down at the ground in embarassment. "Well... a ham and provolone sandwich would be nice."

Marco turned to Chandler, who was distracted by his game.

He finally looked up. "Oh, uh... beef and cheddar battleship sandwich for me."

"Alright..." Marco wrote down all the orders on his notepad. "That'll be $78."

The kids held out their cash, and he took it and started preparing their sandwiches.

However, something about the way he was setting them up irked them.

"I can't eat THAT much cheese," Luan retorted.

"Not dark enough!" Lucy yelled.

"The fruit of the solanum lycopersicum plant is not a vegetable," Lisa explained.

Marco scrambled to get everything right, sweating and balancing the sandwich supplies with both arms. But it didn't exactly help when he ended up dropping the can of dijon mustard for Lola's sandwich, shattering it before her very eyes.

Then everything else fell too.

 **"NO!"** Marco yelled. "DANG IT! I'm so freakin' dead!" He plopped down onto the bar, openly sobbing. "I just wanna go home and see my family!"

The manager, Onofredo himself, came out of his office and tried to reassure his employee. "Hey... what's goin' on, Marco? ...It's OK, we have more supplies..."

Even with her usual aggressiveness and greed, Lola felt bad for Marco in a sense. After all... who knew where Lincoln was at this point?

She reached into her purse and pulled out a Princess Pie - a gooey marshmallow pastry coated with strawberry yogurt. She had brought a package of six with her, and this was her last one. She got up on a stool and got Marco's attention, handing him the pie.

"A... a Princess Pie?" he asked. "I used to love these when I was little..."

"You can have it," Lola told him. "If there's anything I've learned over the last six or seven years, there's nothing more important than a taste of home."

"Gee... thanks, kid."

A while later, the kids finished up their subs as Marco gobbled on his Princess Pie, with a glass of milk to wash it down.

"Hey Onofredo," Lori began. "Do you mind if we sleep in our van in front of your restaurant? We're really tired and I can't focus on driving."

"Oh, sure!" Onofredo smiled. "Just come talk to us if you need help, OK?"

"Thank you, sir. Have a good night! And Marco... I hope you get to visit your family soon."

"Thanks, ma'am." Marco mumbled with his mouth full of Princess Pie bits.

The Louds and Chandler walked out the door and hopped into Vanzilla, stuffed from their meal. Before she fell asleep, Lori checked her phone for the last time that night. She had received a text from Carol Pingrey.

 _everything good?_ ya, just got dinner. we're still looking for Lincoln _i'm trying as hard as i can to hold it in. cuz, y'know, we don't want the whole town in chaos or anything_ lol ur right wait... Chandler's parents aren't in town are they? _from what i heard they left his brother George in charge. he said they had to go to Wisconsin_ business trip? _i guess u could call it that?_ phew. cuz i don't wanna get in trouble with them _don't u think UR parents are gonna find out eventually?_ ... _what?_ i gotta go. ttyl _bye..._

Lori turned off her phone and dropped it in her lap, drifting off to sleep.

 _She found herself back at home... but the whole place was on fire._

 _By pure instinct, she scrambled for any survivors._

 _She could make out a tuft of white hair sticking out of some of the debr-_

 ** _"LINCOLN!"_**

 _Lori rushed over to where was laying and picked up the wood on top of him, throwing it to the side as she tried to save him._

 _He was unconscious._

 _She hoped he was still alive, or so help her-_

 _Suddenly, her parents charged in with hazmat suits. They were clearly enraged._

 _"Lori, what have you DONE?!" Lynn Sr. cried out._

 _"I... I..." Lori tried to explain, but couldn't get any words out._

 _"Young lady, this calls for a serious punishment!" Rita yelled. She had found Lori's phone. She was holding it firmly._

 _"Mom, no! NO!"_

 _Rita threw the phone down into a black abyss, and Lori was already crying._

 _But it only got worse from there._

 _For some reason, Lori was so "attached" to her phone that she was dragged into the abyss with it._

 _She screamed as she fell further and further into the pit. She could see angry visions of Lincoln, chanting,_ _ **"You ruined me..."**_

 ** _"You ruined the whole family... "_**

 ** _"You ruined your own life."_**

 _Lori was doomed. Lincoln was gone. Ronnie Anne would be depressed. And Lori would never see or talk to her beloved Bobby Santiago again. What was the point of her phone anymore? Bobby would dump her anyway. Everyone hated her for what she did. This was all her fault... all her fault..._

 _Lori had been a terrible big sister. She realized this much as she succumbed to the shadows..._

Lori woke up as quickly as she had fallen asleep. She gasped for air, looking around for her phone, and found it still in her lap.

She turned on the ignition in Vanzilla. She was NOT going back to sleep tonight.


	8. Chapter 8

_Imperial Grove, Missouri; 9:30 AM_

Thursdays on campus at Imperial Grove University were quite packed. Usually, there was some kind of sports game on Fridays, whether it be football, baseball, or perhaps basketball; so the college often set up pep rallies to get the hype going.

Linus had plans to attend the upcoming football game, and he had already bought two tickets for himself and Cici. He didn't quite know what else he could do the night of the game, besides sit in his dorm with anxiety.

''No,'' he thought. ''I won't be having any anxiety. I'll do whatever it takes to get through my last year of college, even if I drop dead trying.''

But why would he want to drop dead trying anyway?

Linus didn't have any classes on Thursdays, so at this point he knew who he wanted to visit.

He sat down in his green truck and drove down about five or six miles away from the university and arrived at a small, brown, wooden house. Upon arriving, he found a short, round woman with curly gray hair and a flower pattern dress smiling out the window.

"Aunt Esther?" Linus called out. "I'm here!"

A moment later, the two of them were sitting down at the black dining room table and having coffee.

"So, how have things been?" Esther asked.

"Eh, y'know," Linus answered. "Last year of college, hanging out with Cici, the occasional drowsiness..."

"Have you been taking your medicine regularly?"

"Yeah, but I dunno... it doesn't seem to be helping anymore."

"...is this about your sister?"

"Yeah... Lori."

"Oh, I know you miss her n' all, but I'm glad you've been able to move on."

Suddenly, Linus got a rapid flashback and saw a familiar van slamming into a nearby car. The vision left him wide-eyed.

"Heh..." he smiled and tried to cover it up. "Yeah."

Somehow, his good aunt Esther knew there was something wrong. She knew it was time to tell him.

She sighed. "Linus... there's something I need to tell you."

"What's that...?"

"See... your parents and Lori still alive. They didn't die in that crash."

"...what?"

All Linus could do was stare at her.

"Y-yeah... we've been in touch for quite a while. I wanted to wait till you were old enough before I let you know."

"...how come? I wouldn't have been mad if you had just told me..."

"I'm so sorry. Please don't take this the wrong way, Linus."

"No, no! I'm not mad at all. Just... shocked."

"Well... I wanted to make sure you were old enough to have a choice."

Linus took off his beanie and looked down at his feet. His full hairstyle was curved with a small tuft at the top, not unlike Lincoln's, and it stuck out at the front as if it was reaching for something ahead of it.

"Now that you're almost done with college," Esther continued, "I think it's about time I let you decide whether you want to stick around here... or return to Royal Woods, and see Lori again..."

"Thanks, Aunt Esther... I'll think about it."

Back at his dorm room, Linus looked back at his photo with Lori and shed a tear. Now he knew she was still out there, and they would meet again some day...

 _Back in Royal Woods_

The Loud House was practically empty. Aside from the dog Charles, the cat Cliff, the hamster Geo, and the little bird Walt, no one was around. Who was going to feed them?

Charles's stomach growled as he slumped on the arm of the couch with discontent. Cliff was now chasing mice around the house. Geo was all out of food and water in his cage. Walt was too tired to fly. They were all hungry.

Then Charles noticed something different about the front door.

Lori had left it unlocked when she left with the rest of the sisters.

Charles alerted the other pets, and they seized the opportunity and ran out the door. Searching for good food was their top priority, so hopefully a while of sniffing about would bring them to it.

Charles in particular could smell a grand feast a couple streets away, and he called the others towards it. The smell's source turned out to be a massive purple/black mansion.

As the pets ran up to it, Maggie was also approaching with her light purple hoodie. After ringing the doorbell, she was greeted by Haiku.

"Greetings, Maggie. Are you here for the meeting?"

"Yeah," Maggie answered. "Just make it quick."

Haiku then noticed the Louds' pets coming up to the door. She looked up at Maggie.

"Should I let them in...?"

Charles was whimpering and Cliff was mewling. Walt was pecking his beak on the ground looking for bread crumbs, or anything. Geo just laid down in his ball.

Maggie shrugged. "They look hungry."

So they let them in. Charles kept sniffing as Haiku led Maggie to the dining room.

"Miss Haiku?" A butler called for her attention. "Your friends are waiting for you."

"Thank you, Quinton. Leave us alone to speak amongst ourselves, if you please."

"Understood, madam. Just don't take too long."

Quinton left the dining room through the hallway, leaving Haiku and Maggie to enter the room on their own. Charles had tracked down the food and brought the other Loud pets with him.

Haiku sat down at the edge of the table, in a sort of throne chair rimmed with gold, as Carol, Chaz, Sam, Maggie, Margo, Rusty, Rocky, Lyndsey, and Skippy all stared at her.

"Uhh... nice place you got here," Sam complimented her.

"Thank you. The people here treat me like royalty. Of course, they have to because I lost my parents in a fire..."

"What fire?" asked Carol.

"They worked at an oil refinery. The oil tanks combusted and the whole place was destroyed. My butlers have been taking care of me since then."

"Whoa, that's tough." Rocky felt sorry for Haiku, and placed his hand over hers softly. Haiku swiped it from underneath him, glaring at him.

"So, Darcy couldn't come today?" Carol asked Maggie as they all started eating. Charles gazed at the large roast chicken in the middle of the table.

"She says Haiku creeps her out," said Maggie. "She thinks she's gonna steal her brains and make her her mindless slave."

"Ugh... I hate it when people assume things about goths..." Haiku sipped on a red liquid in her glass, and her friends gave her questioning looks.

"...what? It's cherry juice."

They all shrugged and continued eating, as Walt gazed at the sunflower seeds next to the chicken.

Margo was next to speak. "So um... in the incident where something happens to the Louds... what do we do?"

"I don't know," Haiku answered her question. "We don't want to get ourselves in more danger, though, would we?"

"Good point..."

Chaz just gobbled on his chicken with pleasure.

Cliff noticed the tuna on the opposite side of the sunflower seeds, and he looked ready to pounce. No one noticed any of the pets preparing to feast until Rusty saw Geo bouncing up and down in his ball.

"Hey guys...? Those animals..."

Cliff pounced on the tuna as Charles simultaneously leaped for the chicken. Walt soared through the air and snatched up the sunflower seeds one by one. Geo popped through his ball's door and scrambled across the table, picking up scraps wherever he could find them.

"OK, letting these animals in was a bad idea!" Maggie yelled.

"Well, hey!" Rusty chuckled. "At least they have food now!"

Haiku groaned. "BUTLERS! Get these animals out of my mansion!"

Haiku's butlers grabbed the Loud pets and took them outside as swiftly as they had come in.

Carol crossed her arms. "They just wanted food, Haiku! Those are the Loud family's pets! Who knows how long they've beem starving themselves since they went to find Lincoln?"

"How do you know they belong to the Louds?" asked Haiku.

"Uhh, texting with Lori! Duh!"

"How was _I_ supposed to know?"

Sam tried to stop them. "Guys, chill out! They've gotten their food already, they can find somewhere else to eat if they get hungry again."

Maggie just got up and started walking away. "Those Louds should've taken the pets with them at least..."

"You're the one who SUGGESTED we let them in!" Haiku nagged at her.

Maggie turned around and yelled, "You're the one who asked me in the first place!"

"Is this really going to be how this meeting goes?" Chaz asked.

Everyone turned to face him, shocked at his sudden burst of wisdom.

"I-I mean... we all want Lincoln back, right? Lori brought us all together to support her and her sisters in finding him."

Maggie scoffed. "Well, we're not even with them, so..."

"You know what I mean! We need to be able to back up the Louds if they ever get in danger, y'know?"

"We can't help them," said Haiku. Lincoln's disappearance is their problem and their problem alone."

"With all due respect, Haiku," Lyndsey Sweetwater stated, "Chaz is right. If something happens to Lori and her sisters, who's gonna bring Lincoln home? And who's gonna feed their pets?"

"I can't risk more people vanishing from my life. My parents are quite enough."

"What about Lincoln?" Sam questioned. "What about Lucy?"

Haiku pondered for a bit. "I suppose you're right... but if we went to get them out of danger, then we would be in danger too. All your parents would catch on to us, and we could be kidnapped at any moment."

"Are you always gonna see the negative, Haiku?" Carol asked. "As long as we bring Lincoln home where he belongs, everything will be alright in the end."

Haiku glared at her. "If you only see the positive... you will take yourself beyond your limits and get in more trouble. This meeting is over." She slammed a hammer on the table in front of her, formally closing the meeting.

Her friends got up and left the mansion. "Uncool, man," she heard Sam call out.

Haiku sighed as she continued to eat what was left of her meal. Alone.

 _Onofredo's, around the same time_

Elijah's van pulled up to Onofredo's Subs & Sweets after a while of driving. The gang hopped out, with Leni now dressed in a seafoam green mask and Elijah's flak jacket. Her own dress was absent, having been replaced by a dark red T-shirt.

"Let's do it," Leni smirked.

"You got this, Seafoam," Elijah cheered her on. He gave her some bits of gold, which she took gladly.

"Seafoam" propped the restaurant door open with a block of wood, then stepped inside and leaned against the bar, right in front of Onofredo himself.

"Uh, you're not supposed to prop the door like that," Onofredo warned her.

"Do you serve burritos here?" Seafoam asked.

"...yeah, why?"

"Can I get a beef burrito with jalapeños, extra cheese, your hottest sauce, and sour cream?"

"Um, OK... I'll make it as quick as possible. Hey Marco, you got that covered?"

"Yeah, I do! Just give me a moment!" Marco was munching on another Princess Pie, this time fresh from the market square. He put it aside and prepared Seafoam's burrito rapidly.

Seafoam looked behind her, and Elijah, Shelly, Jay, and Norman gave her the signal. The madman Gator gazed at all the items on the menu, looking forward to breaking in and eating it all up.

"So..." Seafoam began. "You seen a white-haired kid around here?"

Onofredo scratched his chin. "Nah. But I did meet some people the other day who looked like they were searching for someone..."

"Searching for someone, huh? I can relate to that."

"Yeah... I mean, they really looked like they'd lost someone recently. Y'know... they might be lookin' for that white-haired kid you're talkin' about."

"Oh, yeah? Can you tell me where they went?"

"That, I'm not so sure about. See, they just came in for some food, and like-"

Marco came in with the burrito Seafoam had ordered. "Here you go, ma'am. Thank goodness I didn't mess up this time..."

Seafoam placed her gold down in front of Onofredo, who sighed. "You need American dollars, ma'am. We don't take gold."

"Whaddya mean, you don't take gold?" Seafoam yelled with confusion. "It's... it's freakin' GOLD!"

Onofredo stayed firm. "Dollars! Only dollars!"

"Dude, have a heart. I'm starvin' here. You can trade gold for cash anyway. Just take it and let me eat this hot, juicy burrito before it starts congealing. Because once the congealing starts...? Now THAT'S when things start to get ugly."

The man wouldn't budge. "I need. American. Dollars. Ya got that?"

Shelly and Jay tried to decide what Seafoam should do first, now that they felt Onofredo was close to making her mad.

"Punch," said Jay.

"Kick," said Shelly.

"No, punch."

Seafoam tried to stay calm in her confrontation. "How about a compromise?"

Jay and Shelly continued their debate.

"Punch, THEN kick?" asked Jay.

"No, kick then punch," Shelly answered. "And let's not rule out the bread roll down the throat..."

"Or a bread roll up the-"

Seafoam continued just as Jay was about to finish his sentence. "I don't have any American dollars, but guess what I do have?"

Onofredo tried to figure it out. "You have... a mask."

"Yep."

He saw a switchblade in Seafoam's utility belt. "And... a switchblade."

"Yep."

"Hmm... this is a robbery?"

"Yep!" Elijah and his friends burst in upon the sound of the phrase.

Onofredo stared with shock. The Stoneface Stealers themselves were in his restaurant.

Marco swiftly slung the burrito towards them.

"Incoming!" Seafoam shouted as the burrito landed on Norman's face.

"Ew... it's all congealed!" Norman yelled with disgust.

"You know what that means, of course..." Seafoam glared at Onofredo. "Things are about to get ugly." She punched him across the face.

"HA! She punched first!" Jay taunted Shelly.

"Just shut up and fight!" she said, clearly annoyed by his mockery.

Marco kept throwing old glass containers of sauces and veggies at the gang to stop them, but they managed to dodge them all or, in some cases, block them with plates.

Finally, Elijah grabbed Onofredo by the collar of his shirt. "I'm only gonna ask you once... _**Where is Lincoln?**_ "

"I don't know! I don't know! All I know is that a bunch of girls came in and bought some subs! But I think I saw them go to the west when they left..."

"A bunch of girls?" Elijah turned to Jay. "You think that's where that girl came from?"

"Maybe," he answered. "I know they lied about trying to find the white-haired kid to bring him to a birthday party. There was a brown-haired boy with 'em, too."

"...yep, they're lookin' for him alright." He turned back to Onofredo. "If you wanna survive, you gotta give us all the subs and sweets we want from you... and burritos."

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it!" Onofredo scrambled to grab the supplies as Elijah's gang sat down at the bar, planning their next move.


	9. Chapter 9

Ronnie Anne pulled to a stop in the golf cart as she and her friends arrived in front of a pond. Lincoln, Clyde, and Cristina brought out the canned sandwiches, the chips, and the rest of the food to decide what they should eat.

"Good thing these sandwich cans have self-heating liners," said Lincoln, as he opened a pepperoni pocket sandwich.

Clyde kept munching on barbeque chips, while Cristina and Ronnie Anne laid out the apples, grapes, and other fruit.

As they sat down and started eating, they thought about just how far they had come since the beginning of the week.

"Man..." Clyde was almost astounded. "We came from Michigan to Illinois, then all the way out here... how many miles is that?"

Lincoln shrugged. "We're getting somewhere, at least..."

Cristina moved a bit closer to Lincoln. "So, that brother of yours... are you sure he's gonna be in Imperial Grove?"

"He HAS to be. When Lori was yelling at me about him, I could almost see her sadness in her eyes... it was like she'd lost something, or someone, valuable to her... a long time ago."

"So like that painting Mr. Spruce showed us in homeroom on the first day of school?"

Lincoln scratched his head. "American Gothic? But that painting's about the Great Depression, and how it drove farmers into poverty."

"It's art, Lincoln," Cristina stated. "Art can be interpreted in many ways. Personally, I think there's more to that painting than meets the eye. Think about Lori possibly mourning over your missing brother, then think about the Great Depression. What do they have in common?"

"...loss?"

"Yeah! If you think about it, knowing there's a brother out there you'll probably never see again could drive you into your own personal 'great depression'. Lori lost her brother all those years ago, and... I bet she can't bear losing you too."

Lincoln sighed. "She doesn't want me around... all I've ever done is stress her out. I stressed ALL my siblings out."

Seeing her friend in sorrow, Cristina put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't say that. Listen... if Lori didn't care about you, she probably wouldn't be out looking for you right now."

"What if she's not? For all I know, she could be much happier without me..."

"Stop being so unrealistic like that. You've always said that in a house with ten sisters, you need to have thick skin... right?"

Lincoln chuckled a bit. "...yeah, you're right."

"And like I said... Lori already lost her other brother. Imagine how she feels about losing YOU."

Lincoln looked down at his shoes in shame. "I don't know... I could never replace him even if I tried."

"It's not about replacing him," Cristina went on. "No one can replace anyone else. It's about being yourself."

"She's right," said Ronnie Anne. "Your sisters love you because of what YOU bring into the family. And honestly? If you actually managed to find that brother and bring him home with you... I'm sure Lori would love you even more."

"What if ''I'' was the one who brought him home?" Clyde asked with a smirk.

Ronnie Anne groaned. "Not the point, Clyde!"

Lincoln lifted his head back up with a grin. "You guys are right. At first I wanted to find my brother so I could avoid Lori, but later on I realized taking him back to Royal Woods would make my family happier than ever. And because of that... I'm even more determined to find him."

"That's the spirit!" Ronnie Anne cheered.

"Hey, Clyde," Lincoln turned to him. "That Imperial Grove student you found online... what was his name again?"

"Uhh... Linus."

"Does he have his middle and last name listed?"

"The page says he prefers them to not be shown on the site."

"Right..."

"Well, in any case," said Cristina, "I'm sure we'll find the right one somewhere."

Ronnie Anne noticed something moving in the distance as they kept talking.

A Jeep.

"Guys, it's them! Hide!"

There were bushes nearby, and each of the kids hid in one of them as the Jeep stopped at the other side of the pond. Sure enough, Elijah, Shelly, Jay, Norman, and Gator all stepped outside, with Leni/Seafoam following behind.

"Leni...?" Lincoln was confused. Why was Leni working with them?

"I just know he's around here somewhere," Seafoam told the others.

"Yeah, I mean... we got a call sayin' he took our food with a few friends..." Jay looked around, trying not to make too much noise.

Gator sniffed around the pond, eventually finding the empty sandwich cans and chip bags on the side Lincoln's group was hiding at.

"There it is," Elijah said with a tone of determination. "We should find 'em any moment now..."

He looked in one of the bushes and found Ronnie Anne, who punched him in the stomach and wrestled him down to the ground. "If I have to kick your butt, I will!"

"Is that so?" Jay taunted, as he lifted her up by her hood.

The rest of the gang surrounded her, and Elijah got up close to her face. "Alright, squirt... where's Lincoln?"

"You think I'm gonna TELL you?" Ronnie Anne yelled.

"Listen here, little girl... whatever you can do, I can do far worse. So don't try to squirm your way outta this."

Ronnie Anne was starting to look scared as the gang stared at her angrily. As Lincoln saw this going on, he couldn't bear to watch her suffer.

"ELIJAH!" he shouted as he got out of his bush. "I'm over here! If it's me you want, let her go and come after ME!"

Jay dropped Ronnie Anne on the ground, and she quickly got up and ran off with Lincoln, as Clyde and Cristina followed suit.

"Well," said Elijah, "if that's what he wants... **_AFTER HIM!_** "

"In the car! Now!" Seafoam yelled as she hopped into the driver's seat. Once everyone was seated, she hit the gas hard.

"Geez, when did Leni learn to drive?" Lincoln shouted as they kept running as fast as they could.

"It doesn't matter!" Cristina called back. "We have to keep moving!"

They all leaped over logs and sticks in the woods as the Jeep burrowed through them.

"We're gonna have to split up!" Ronnie Anne yelled. "Lincoln, follow me! Clyde, go with Cristina!"

They kept going in two different directions, but Elijah kept his eyes on Lincoln. "He's going that way! Seafoam, turn left!"

A train was slowly approaching through the nearby railroad, and Cristina was the first to see it. "TRAIN!" she called out to Lincoln and Ronnie Anne.

Lincoln noticed a shed in the direction he was running. "Think we can grab anything in that shed?"

"Maybe, but we have to hurry!" Ronnie Anne responded. They slid through the leaf piles in front of them to gain some extra speed, and in the shed they found a red blanket and boxes of tacks.

"Lincoln! Take this red cloth and wave it in front of the shed to distract them! Once they're close, throw these tacks down and get out of the way fast!"

"What am I supposed to...?"

"Just imagine yourself as a mighty matador taking on a bull in the last phase of the battle. Trust me! You'll do great!"

"OK..."

Lincoln turned to face the incoming Jeep, as he and Elijah locked glares. He swung the red blanket to the side and started to shake it, and Seafoam pushed down harder on the gas pedal.

Just as they were getting close, Lincoln threw out the blanket and tossed the open boxes of tacks towards them, spreading the tacks everywhere.

"SEAFOAM!" Elijah screamed. "STOP THE CAR!"

Lincoln swiftly jumped to the side as the Jeep ran over the tacks, popping the tires before it eventually crashed into the shed.

Lincoln caught up with his friends as the train began to pass by. Clyde, Ronnie Anne, and Cristina managed to get in, but Lincoln was slowly falling behind.

"Lincoln, grab my hand!" Cristina put it out for Lincoln to reach, but he struggled to do so. Cristina was close to falling off the train, but Ronnie Anne grabbed her other hand and pulled her back in just as Lincoln reached her. They all made it into the train safe and sound.

Lincoln began to cheer with joy, and Ronnie Anne started laughing with excitement and relief that they had escaped Elijah's wrath.

"So long, suckers!" Clyde called out to his gang.

Cristina looked out towards the horizon as the train rolled on towards it. "Imperial Grove, here we come!"

Police sirens were coming closer and closer to the Jeep, as Elijah growled with fury. "NO! We can't go to jail now!"

"Wait a minute..." Shelly pondered. "They're going to Imperial Grove, aren't they?"

"Huh..." Norman thought about it for a moment. "Those girls we met earlier were looking for Lincoln... and he's most likely their brother..."

"Come to think of it, the oldest girl DID look familiar," Jay added.

"How so?" asked Elijah.

"I think one of our old colleagues showed us a picture of her a long time ago. And if that's the same girl we saw before we got Seafoam, and she's lookin' for Lincoln, then that means..."

The police pulled up to the shed and arrested the gang, but something was stuck on Elijah's mind.

"No... they can't be related..." he growled as the police began to read their rights.

 ** _"LINUS!"_**


	10. Chapter 10

The road ahead was dusty as Vanzilla drove on. Everyone was just about worn out by now, with all of them sleeping except Lori and Lucy.

"How come we didn't stay out in front of Onofredo's last night?" Lucy asked her eldest sister.

"It's a long story," Lori sighed, putting in her best effort to not swerve off the road and possibly crash.

Somehow, Lucy had a feeling something was up. Something had been up with her ever since Lincoln ran off.

"Lori, I know you're concerned about something. I can sense it."

No answer.

"You can talk to me, Lori. We're sisters."

"What if I don't WANT to talk about it?" Lori snapped. "Besides, it's not like I have an older brother out there I can literally run to whenever I feel sad or anything."

"But you have us."

"I'm the oldest. I'M the one who helps YOU."

"Well then, why didn't you help Lincoln when he was feeling down?"

Lori groaned with frustration and slammed her head on the wheel, honking the horn. "Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincoln... it's always about Lincoln, isn't it?"

Lucy couldn't bear to watch her suffer emotionally like this. "You're ashamed of something... aren't you?"

"Does it matter?" Lori asked sternly.

"Listen, Lori. I'll be honest with you. I can tell there's something deeper going on. You're ACTING angry, but I can see the fear and sorrow in your eyes."

"And? How are you so certain what's going on with me? You don't even know what happened with YOURSELF."

"...what's that supposed to mean?"

"WELP, there's Great Lakes City!" Lori shouted, trying to change the subject. "Wake up and smell the scents of the city, everyone!"

Chandler and the rest of the Loud sisters slowly lifted themselves up. "What are we doing in Great Lakes City...?" asked Luna.

"We're here to see Bobby, obviously," Lola responded, with a slight tone of disgust in her voice.

"I'm almost certain my boo-boo bear can help us," Lori explained. "Now stop complaining and stay out of my business."

She parked the van in front of the Casagrande building, as Bobby sat on the stairs waving.

"Babe?" As Lori got out the front seat, Bobby walked up to meet her. "What are you and your sisters doing here? And... who's that brown haired kid? Where's Lincoln?"

"Lincoln's missing and we're trying to find him," Lori answered. "That's Chandler, the MAIN reason he ran off."

Chandler shrugged. "Sure, Lori, keep telling yourself that..."

"Hey..." Lynn thought of something. "Where's Ronnie Anne?"

"Yeah... that's the problem," Bobby sighed. "Ronnie Anne is missing. We haven't seen her since we went to bed last night."

"Lincoln's little girlfriend?" Chandler chuckled. "Yeah... probably ran off with him or somethin'."

Lynn nudged him. "Don't judge my brother..."

Nonetheless, they all felt hungry right about then. Luna was the first to bring it up. "Hey dude... do you guys have anything we can eat? We're all low on money 'cause we've been spending it on hotels and restaurants."

"Oh, of course!" Bobby answered. "I'll talk to my mom about having a sorta picnic and letting you guys spend the night, so we can make plans for the morning."

"Thanks, Bobby boo-boo bear," Lori took his hand gently. "I promise we'll help you find Ronnie Anne once we're done here."

But as everyone was walking inside to grab some food, Lori just sat down on the stairs looking lonely for some reason.

Bobby (being her boyfriend, of course) noticed her solemn expression. "Babe? Is everything... okay?"

Lori looked out to the horizon. "...I'll talk about it when we eat," she said.

Within a few hours, Bobby and his family had gotten dinner set up at the local city park. Rosa and Hector Casagrande had prepared the main dish - enchiladas. Bobby had made some quick nachos and baked some jalapeno poppers for the appetizers, and Carlota and her brothers CJ and Carlino had set up the placemats and plates for the picnic.

During the meal, Lana and CJ played a game of pirates, with both players seeming to grow stronger with each attack. Carlino tried to flirt with Lori, but she just ignored him. Once he saw Lola brushing her hair and checking in her mirror, though... he was practically starstruck.

"Hey there, good-lookin'," he greeted as he walked up to her. "Are you a model? 'Cause you're super. _Una reina superestrella._ "

"Beat it, creep," Lola pushed him aside bluntly. "I don't have time for you rowdy city rebels who have no idea how to treat a real beauty que-"

She suddenly blushed. Carlino had just taken her hand and kissed it gently. He was kneeling down in front of her, almost like a knight pledging his loyalty to his princess.

"Te serviré toda mi vida si me dejas... Su Alteza Real." _(Translation: "I will serve you my whole life if you let me... Your Royal Highness.")_

Lola giggled. "I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds adorable!"

Lana and CJ interrupted their romantic interaction just as quickly as it had started, as they bumped into them with their pirate gear. They both became red with fury and started chasing after them.

Lucy was sitting on a bench far away from everyone else. She opened her coffin-shaped purse and pulled out the photo of Lori and the dirty blonde boy, then looked back up at Lori herself, who was sitting down with Bobby.

Lisa sat down next to her. "Lori still won't talk?"

"I've tried multiple times," said Lucy. "I know she's upset about SOMETHING, but she won't tell me what it is."

"It must be really deep..." Lisa looked down at the photo.

"So deep, she'll really only talk to Bobby about it." Lucy crossed her arms. "Sigh. I think we should try at least one more time."

"Well said, elder sister."

Just ahead, Bobby put his arm over Lori's shoulder. "Can you tell me what's going on, babe?"

Lori just stared at the grass.

"...it's about Linus, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Lori finally responded. "I'm glad I told you about him a while back, honestly. No one else close to me really knows about him, except my parents. But they don't talk about him much anymore. I'm the only one in my house who still struggles with memories of him."

Bobby pulled his girlfriend closer. "Losing people is tough... when my dad passed away, I thought I was pretty much done being happy... until I met you, that is."

Lori smiled slightly. "It literally sucks being the only one in my family who thinks about Linus almost every day..."

 **"Who's Linus?"**

Lori and Bobby jumped with shock. Lucy was right behind them, with Lisa catching up.

"Um... an old friend, duh!" Lori stuttered. "Y'know, he died, I was all sad, and... yeah!"

Lucy wasn't falling for it. "You said, 'it literally sucks being the only one in MY FAMILY who thinks about Linus almost every day.'"

"Well, I'm the only one who knew him... right?"

"We'd expect you to talk to us about a mere friend, but I suppose not. You never talk to us about these things anyway."

"No more beating around the _Ilex verticilata_ ," Lisa demanded. "Explanation. NOW."

Lori was almost yelling now. "Linus was just a friend, and that's all there is to it!"

"Then what was this picture doing in your drawer?" Lucy once again pulled out the photo, handing it to Lori, who took a long look and let out a deep sigh.

"OK, OK... we have an older brother. I lied."

"...why?" Lisa glared.

"Shame, Lisa! If you're so smart, why didn't YOU figure it out?"

"I may be smart, but I can't just read your mind like a picture book! You need to tell us these things! You're our ELDEST SISTER!"

The other Loud sisters heard what was going on, and they came running.

Luna was furious. "So we have a big brother we've never even met, and yet you just tell Bobby about him but not us? Not LINCOLN?"

"I dunno, Luna," Luan started to chuckle. "I think they've got some kinda secret BROTHERHOOD goin' on?" She laughed at her pun, but Luna bared her teeth and slapped her across the face.

"LUAN! Can you not make a pun for five minutes? This is SERIOUS!"

"Guys, let Lori breathe at least!" Lynn yelled.

Lucy nodded, then turned back to Lori. "OK... I'm only going to ask you once... what happened to Linus?"

Lori took a deep breath. "It all started when I was just five years old..."

"Linus and I went to the same elementary school. I looked up to him like a hero. He WAS my hero. He comforted me when I was sad or scared, and he always had my back."

"Linus always did well in his classes... at least until he started fifth grade. He was being pushed into things he was having trouble learning, and he was afraid if Mom and Dad found out, he'd get in big trouble with them."

"Then the report cards came out. We were all on our way home from the park, and the report cards had come in the mail. Linus knew his long record of high scores on his assignments had been broken, and he couldn't imagine how Mom and Dad would feel about his bad grades this time."

"Leni was in the car. Luna, Luan, and baby Lynn Jr. were visiting Pop-Pop. Leni was gazing at the wonderful blue sky just ahead, her seat belt loose, and I was resting on Linus's shoulder trying to cheer him up."

"Then the crash happened."

"After the crash, I woke up... and Linus wasn't there anymore. Leni had fallen out of her seat and bumped her head against the front chair. I scrambled to find my beloved brother, but he was nowhere to be found."

Lori finished her story with a wimper. "We never saw Linus again... and Leni had gotten a bad head injury from the incident. She came out alive and well in the end, but she was never the same again. I didn't want to live with sorrow for the rest of my life... so I started telling her that I was the oldest."

"You manipulated Leni like that?" Lucy scolded her.

"If I was gonna be in charge of all my younger siblings, I wanted to look strong! Not like a mourning lost child!"

Lana scowled at her. "Y'know, if you had just told us about all of this BEFORE Lincoln ran away, we'd probably wouldn't be mad right now. But now we've lost a big part of our family because you trust Bobby with your secrets more than you trust us."

"Who's gonna play castle with me now?" Lola added. "Who's gonna listen to Lucy's poems or Luna's songs? Definitely not YOU, because you're so hyperfocused on your dream life with Bobby in the Bahamas!"

Lori straight up snapped. "OH! Lincoln's so much more fun! Lincoln's so much cooler! Lincoln this, Lincoln that, Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincoln!"

"Wait..." Lucy tried to understand. "Is that why you yell at Lincoln so much? Because he reminds you of... him?"

"Why do you need to know? Can't the SPIRITS tell you? Besides, we're trying to find Lincoln anyway, and once we bring him back I'll be a hero to this family... and Mom and Dad will be proud of me!"

"So let me get this straight... the only reason you want to bring him home is so our parents don't see you as a failure?"

"Well, not necessarily! I already failed Linus... I don't want to fail my parents too! You all look up to me, and I don't want to los-"

"Oh, PLEASE don't act like you give a crap!" Lynn yelled. "All you care about is your oh-so-precious boyfriend! Man, you might as well be married to that phone considering how often you use it compared to spending time with us."

"WHAT?" Lori was practically screaming now. "It's not like YOU girls haven't done bad stuff yourselves! Luan, you almost got us KILLED on April Fool's Day! Lola, you mercilessly attack people when they disagree with you! Lynn, you're always shoving your victories in people's faces because you think you're better than the rest of us!"

"Yeah, we get it, we've all done bad stuff!" Lynn responded blatantly. "That doesn't mean you get to constantly shame us for it! That's why Lincoln ran off, isn't it?"

"Now hold on JUST a minute!"

"Babe, please..." Bobby tried to hold her back, but she pushed him away and stormed towards Lynn.

"You think I LIKE being a jerk? Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to keep this family under control? And with Linus gone, it's harder! No one ever checks on ME, nobody asks how I'M doing, no one ever cares how I feel. It's always 'Lori, help me with my kid problems! Lori, could you drive me to the mall or this concert or beauty pageant or whatever? Lori, I need your comfort because someone at school hurt my feelings!' Well, what about MY feelings, Lynn? What about ME?! Do any of you even love me at all? Huh?!"

All of her sisters, and the Casagrandes, just stood there in silence.

Chandler kept his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. "We can all learn something from all this, I guess."

Lori growled. "Well, what did YOU learn, Chandler?"

But he just shrugged, smirking a bit.

"Exactly! You didn't learn ANYTHING! Because you refuse to see things from your victim's side of the story!"

"Sounds just like you, honestly," Lucy retorted. "Except you're doing it to your own family, which is far worse."

"Yeah, what she said," Chandler confirmed.

"And be warned. Bobby doesn't love you for who you are around us. He loves you for who you are on the phone."

Lori was now up in Lucy's face. "Just leave me alone, you pathetic emo brat!"

All of the other sisters gasped. "...excuse me?" Lucy was growing stiff with fury.

"You heard me!" Lori shouted.

Lucy took the photo away from her and put it back in her purse, walking away. "Fine. I'm sorry I ever tried to help you."

"Well, I'M sorry you were ever adopted!"

The whole park fell into silence. Not a gasp, or a scream, or anything.

Then Lucy started to sniffle a bit.

She tried to cover it up, slowly trudging back to the Casagrande building where she could cry with no one else watching.

"Now look what you've done!" Luna yelled. "You just shattered everything Lucy has ever believed in!"

Lana, Lola, and Lisa in particular couldn't believe what they had just heard. Lucy was adopted. They had so many questions.

Luan looked like she was NOT going to crack a pun.

And she didn't.

"Lori... by hiding all these truths from us, you only make us feel worse the longer it takes for us to find out. And for what reason? So you can be worshipped as the so-called 'oldest child' who can never do anything wrong? We're your sisters, you could have just told us a long time ago and we'd all be just fine. And you know what? Yeah, I think Lincoln is definitely cooler and more fun than you, because Lincoln cares about everyone. All you care about is yourself."

Bobby just got up and left the area, leaving Lori to face her sisters.

Lori sighed, not with irritation, but with what sounded like acceptance that she has lost.

"I'll go now. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. Maybe I'll find Lincoln... and if I do, I'll be sure to buy him plane tickets to get him back to Royal Woods... so you guys can be happy with him... without me..."

Lori picked up her bags and started to slump away. Somehow, Luna now realized the true sorrow she was going through. "Lori... wait..."

But it was too late. She wasn't turning back, probably never would.

"I'm gonna be real..." Lola stated with a sigh. "Lori had a point. I don't think we're any better than she is when it comes to appreciating Lincoln when he's around... "

Luna nodded, as she turned and ran down to the Casagrande building to try and talk to Lucy, with Lisa following close by.

Lori just kept walking. Even with her many efforts to being the perfect big sister, she had still managed to fail.

She needed Linus now more than ever.


End file.
